MRKELEY

LIBRARV

UNIVERSITY OF
CALIFORNIA

EARTH
PCIEN
U0RAR

LIFE AND LETTEES

OF

SIB JOSEPH PRESTWICH

LIFE AND LETTERS

OF

SIR JOSEPH PESTWICH

M.A., D.C.L., F.R.S.

FORMERLY PROFESSOR OF GEOLOGY IN THE
UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

WRITTEN AND EDITED BY

HIS WIFE

WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS

EDINBURGH AND LONDON

MDCCCXCIX

EARTH

SCIENCES

LIBRARY

P E E F A C E.

THIS Memoir was not undertaken without anxious
misgivings : it might not have been attempted but for
the encouragement and prompting of Sir John Evans,
who urged that I could best tell of the home life,
and that the scientific publications, by the subject of
the Memoir, had already spoken for themselves. I
accordingly decided to do my utmost in what, it is
needless to say, has been altogether a labour of love.
I have to acknowledge my special indebtedness to
Sir Archibald Geikie for his great kindness in writing
the Summary of the Geological Work accomplished by
Joseph Prestwich, as well as for the use of letters in his
possession. A debt of gratitude is also due to Sir
John Evans, who not only placed numerous letters at
my disposal, but undertook the critical supervision of
the MS., and was the helper and adviser throughout.
To Professor Rupert Jones my warmest acknowledg-
ments have likewise to be made for his ever kind co-
operation ; and to Mr Horace B. Woodward, of the
Geological Survey, I must record my gratitude for his

41 8418

VI PREFACE.

invaluable assistance, without which it would not have
been possible for me to accomplish what has been
done : to him also is due the arrangement of the List
of Published Papers.

On account (except in a few cases) of the scarcity of
original letters, those from friends and correspondents
have been inserted when they have served to elucidate
the subjects under discussion at the time. To M.
Albert Gaudry, of the Institute of France, I am in-
debted for his sympathy and encouragement, and also
for allowing me the use of letters. To Professor
Capellini of Bologna, and to Professor Louis Lartet
of Toulouse, I have likewise to record my grateful
acknowledgments.

Professor Jules Marcou of Cambridge, Massachusetts,
who took an eager interest in the preparation of this
Memoir, has, alas ! not lived to witness its completion.
Mr William Colchester, an old and attached friend who
so lately wrote expressing his wish for the speedy pub-
lication of this volume, has likewise passed away. The
recent death of Sir Douglas Galton, the dear friend
and companion of Joseph Prestwich in geological ex-
cursions at home and abroad, has been a personal grief,
and is the severance of another link with the past.

Among the friends to whom I am indebted for letters
and data may be mentioned the Rev. R. Ashington
Bullen, the Rev. Osmond Fisher, Mr Benjamin Harri-
son, Sir Joseph D. Hooker, Professor Judd, Sir John
Lubbock, Mr Mansel-Pleydell, Mr S. R. Pattison, and
many others. I have also to express my thanks to Dr

PREFACE. Vll

Henry Woodward for his ever-ready helpfulness, and
for the use of the Plate for illustration of the group
of the four friends — Joseph Prestwich, Professor John
Morris, Mr F. E. Edwards, and Mr Searles Wood.
The kindness of Mrs Lyell (author of the ' Life and
Letters of Sir Charles Lyell ') has made it possible to
introduce several letters to Sir Charles. I have also
to thank Mr Roderick F. Murchison for the loan of
several letters to Sir Roderick I. Murchison ; and Mrs
Mason Hoppin of New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.A.,
for so kindly obtaining information about the Great
Seal of the United States. To none am I more in-
debted than to my three sisters, Isabella, Margaret,
and Louisa E. Milne, who have given constant and
loving aid in the preparation of the MS. for the
printer.

G. A. P.

DARENT-HULME, No.y 1899.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

1812-1830.

ANCESTRY AND YOUTH.

Letter of Queen Elizabeth. Hulme Hall. Sir Thomas Prestwich,
Baronet. Medal given by Charles I. to Sir Thomas Prestwich.
Sir John Prestwich. Great Seal of the United States. Parentage.
Birth. Autobiography. Childhood. School-days in Paris. Sonnet.
School-days at Norwood and Reading. Home Life and Character.
University College. Oil Painting. Early Geological Studies. Visit
to Broseley ........

CHAPTER II.
1830-1834.

CITY AND HOME LIFE — ZETETICAL SOCIETY — VISITS TO SHROPSHIRE
—NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.

Home Studies. Scheme for Work. Geological Rambles. Autobio-
graphy. Coalbrook Dale. City Life. Diary. Chemistry and
Physics. Industry and Frugality. Temperament and Character.
Geological Society. Business Journeys. Acquisition and Advan-
tages of Knowledge . . . . . . .26

X CONTENTS.

CHAPTER III.

1834-1849.

GEOLOGY OF COALBROOK DALE AND GAMBLE — TERTIARY MEMOIRS.

Journey to Scotland. Edinburgh. Banffshire. British Association
at Bristol. Visit to Ireland. Business and Science. Recreation.
Geological Society of France. Isle of Arran. Note-books. Shake-
speare's Cliff. Isle of Wight. Palseontographical Society. Visit
to Germany. Boppart. Water- cure. Bagshot Sands. William
Lonsdale. Geological Society Club. Wollaston Medal. Studies
of the Drift. Denudation of the Weald. Metropolitan Drainage.
Geological Excursions . . . . . .45

CHAPTER IV.

1849-1858.

EASTER EXCURSIONS— 'THE WATER-BEARING STRATA '—' THE GROUND
BENEATH US ' — FURTHER TERTIARY MEMOIRS.

Death of his Mother. Letter to his Niece, Sophia Scott. Water-
supply. Dr Fitton on Neocomian. Godwin- Austen. Murchison.
Business and Geology. Holmfirth Flood. Geological Papers.
Geological Society of France. Edward Forbes. Royal Society.
De la Beche. Sedgwick. Valley Gravels. High - level Gravel.
Secretary and Treasurer of Geological Society. City Life. Death
of his Father. Civil Prestwich. Letters to Sir Charles Lyell on
Correlation of Tertiary Strata. Meeting with Mr John Evans.
Dr J. D. Hooker and Eocene Plants. Leonard Horner . . 75

CHAPTER V.

1858-1859.

BRIXHAM CAVE — FLINT IMPLEMENTS — VISITS TO ABBEVILLE
— GOWER CAVES.

Hugh Falconer. Fossil Mammals. Switzerland. Folkestone. Boucher
de Perthes. Caves near Palermo. Antiquity of Man. Amiens.
Hoxne. Forged Implements. Fossil Elephants. Cyrena. Sequence
of Drifts. Charles Kingsley. Ice-action in Wales. Robert Cham-
bers. Menchecourt. Overton Longville . . . .110

CONTENTS. XI

CHAPTER VI.

1860-1863.
ANTIQUITY OF MAX — FIELD GEOLOGY — GEOLOGICAL .MAPS.

Letters to Sir Charles Lyell. Letter to his Sister, C. Thurburn.
Somme Valley. Gower Caves. Raised Beach and Boulder Clay
of Gower. Boulder Clay of North Wales. Geological Excursions.
Rev. John Gunn. Visits to Northamptonshire, Yorkshire, and the
Eastern Counties. Preservation of Bones. St Acheul. Reculvers.
James Wyatt. Bedford. Grays. Moel Tryfaen and Glacial Sub-
mergence. Letter from Mr Ruskin. Memoir on the Drift. Re-
port on Wines. Geological Excursions. Geological Survey.
Greenough Geological map. Athenaeum Club. Lyell's ' Antiquity
of Man' . . . . . . . .145

CHAPTER VII.

1863-1870.

HUMAN JAW OF ABBEVILLE — ROYAL COAL COMMISSION — ROYAL WATER
COMMISSION — PRESIDENCY OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

Moulin Quignon and the Fossil Human Jaw. Owen versus Huxley.
Flint Implements. Commission of Inquiry at Paris, Bedford.
Abbeville. Geological Excursions. Lecture at the Royal Insti-
tution. Social Life. Royal Commission on Water. Death of
Falconer. Sangatte. Geological Excursions. Receives a Royal
Medal. Purchase of Land near Shoreham. The Grounds of Darent-
Hulme. Royal Commission on Coal. Prestwichia. Bovey Tracey.
The Foundations of St Paul's Cathedral. Work and Recreation.
Memoirs on the Crag. Removal to Darent - Hulme. Geological
Excursions. President of the Geological Society . . .178

CHAPTER VIII.

1870-1S74.

MARRIAGE — VISIT TO PARIS — ITALY — RETIREMENT FROM THE CITY —
AIX-LES-BAINS — PROFESSORSHIP OF GEOLOGY AT OXFORD.

Paris. Mentone. Genoa. Italian Caves. Naples. Mrs Somerville.
Eastern Counties. Address to Geological Society on Deep-sea

Xll CONTENTS.

Life. Home life at Darent-Hulme. Professor Morris. Visit to
St Andrews. Gardening. Address to Geological Society on Springs
and Water-supply, and on Coals and Coal-supply. Geological Ex-
cursions. J. F. Campbell. Retirement from Business. Geological
Work. Boulogne. Aix-les-Bains. Weymouth, the Isle of Portland,
and the Chesil Beach. The Boulonnais. Reviews. Deep-sea
Temperatures. The Channel Tunnel. Colonel E. R. Wood. The
Settle Cave 216

CHAPTER IX.

1874-1878.

OXFORD— FIELD GEOLOGY IN ENGLAND, FRANCE, WALES,
AND SCOTLAND.

Professor of Geology at Oxford. Excursion of Geologists' Association.
Visit to North Devon. Reception at Oxford. Letter from Mr
Ruskin. Letter from Mr Robert Mallet. Geological Papers. Visit
to Hayling Island and Fareham. Field Classes. Life at Oxford.
Darent - Hulme. Malvern Drift. Eastbourne. Death of his
Brother. The Boulonnais. The Bible and Geology. Excursion
to East Hendred. Letter from Prof. Tyndall. Driving Tour to
Warwick and Charnwood Forest. The Baronetcy. Plan for
Easter Excursion. Geology and Mathematics. The Earth's Crust.
Easter Excursion. Proposed as President of the British Associa-
tion. Paris and the Pyrenees. San Sebastian. South Wales.
Rhos Sili Bay and Haverfordwest. Journey to Lochaber. Glencoe,
Glen Spean, and the Parallel Roads of Glen Roy. Ken-era and
Oban. Ayr, Stranraer, and Carlisle. Loughborough. Eastbourne.
The Older Rocks under London 249

CHAPTER X.

1878-1888.

PRESIDENT OF THE REUNION EXTRAORDINAIRE OF THE FRENCH GEOLOGI-
CAL SOCIETY AT BOULOGNE — TEXT -BOOK ON * GEOLOGY '— PRESIDENT
OF THE INTERNATIONAL GEOLOGICAL CONGRESS.

Coal-measures in the South of England. Hydro-geological Map of the
Thames Basin. National Water-supply. The Parallel Roads of
Glen Roy. Letters from J. F. Campbell and C. Darwin. Visit to
Tenby and St David's. Narberth. Flint Implements from near

CONTENTS. Xlll

Ightham. Illness and death of Charles Falconer. Colleges for
Women. Iguanodon Prestivichii. Darent-Hulme. Channel Islands.
Isle of Wight. British Association, Swansea. Ashmolean Society.
George Rolleston. Geological Papers. British Association at York
and Southampton. Henry J. S. Smith. William Spottiswoode.
Huxley. Jules Marcou. Water - supply of Oxford. J. Gvvyn
Jeffreys. The Institute of France. Dr W. B. Carpenter. Origin
of Flints. Plateau Implements and River Drift. Regional Meta-
morphism. Prof. J. W. Judd. Text-book of Geology. Letter from
W. E. Gladstone. Isle of Sheppey. Prof. C. Lapworth. Oxford
Memories. Glacial Period. Departure from Oxford. Inter-
national Geological Congress. William Colchester. Dean Liddell.
Plateau Implements. International Geological Congress. Honor-
ary Degree of D.C.L. . . . . . . .296

CHAPTER XL

1888-1895.

PLATEAU IMPLEMENTS OF KENT — LETTERS ON POST-GLACIAL SUBMERGENCE
— CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF THE LINCEI
—VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF FRANCE.

Geologists' Association. Chalk Escarpment. Letter from Sir Andrew
Clark. Westleton Beds. Note-books and Maps. Parish Work.
The Solent River. Dr H. P. Blackmore. Home Life. Raised
Beaches and "Head." Alderbury. Geological Work. J. W.
Hulke. The Right Hon. T. H. Huxley. S. R. Pattison. Uni-
formitarianism. Studies on Glacial Drifts and Glaciation. The
Ightham Fissures. Physics and Geology. The Flood. Plateau
Implements. Death of Mrs Russell Scott. Prof. T. Rupert Jones.
Letters from Canon Greenwell and W. E. Gladstone. Geological
Publications. Letter from the Duke of Argyll. The Rev. R. A.
Bullen. Tradition of the Flood. Nature and Art. A Challenge.
Friendships abroad. Daubree. Geological Pupils . . . 346

CHAPTER XII.

1895-1896.
LAST DAYS.

Home Life. Final Writings. Autobiography. Illness. Knighthood.

Last Days. Death. Letters of Sympathy . . . .392

XIV CONTENTS.

SUMMARY OP THE SCIENTIFIC WORK OF SIR JOSEPH PRESTWICH, D.C.L.,
F.R.S. BY SIR ARCHIBALD GEIKIE, D.C.L., F.R.S., DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF
THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEYS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM.

Origin of Kiver Valleys. Researches on Deep-sea Life and Tempera-
tures. Chesil Bank. Volcanic Geology. Metamorphism. Coal-
brookdale. Memoirs on Eocene Strata. Correlation of Formations.
Memoirs on the Crag Strata. Antiquity of Man. River-deposits.
Later Geological Changes. Raised Beaches. Evidence of a Great
Submergence of Western Europe. Practical Applications of Geol-
ogy. Text-book. Uniformitarianism. Personality . . 402

LIST OF PAPERS, BOOKS, ETC., BY SIR JOSEPH PRESTWICH, M.A.,

D.C.L., F.R.S., ETC. ....... 422

LIST OF SOCIETIES TO WHICH SIR JOSEPH PRESTWICH BELONGED . 433

INDEX 434

ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE

SIR JOSEPH PRESTWICH (with signature) . . Frontispiece

HULME HALL ........ 2

MEDAL GIVEN BY CHARLES I. TO SIR THOMAS PRESTWICH . . 3

THE GREAT SEAL OP THE UNITED STATES .... 6

PROFESSOR JOHN MORRIS ...... 32

JOSEPH PRESTWICH ... 66

R. A. C. GODWIN-AUSTEN, F.R.S. . . • . .82

FACSIMILE OF PAGE OF NOTE-BOOK: RAISED BEACH AT BRAUNTON, 1855 102
SIR JOHN EVANS, K.C.B. ...... 104

DR HUGH FALCONER, F.R.S. . . . . . .110

M. BOUCHER DE PERTHES ...... 118

A CONFERENCE ON FLINT IMPLEMENTS : PRESTWICH, S. V. WOOD,

J. MORRIS, AND F. E. EDWARDS ..... 126

SIR DOUGLAS GALTON, K.C.B. . . . . .162

FACSIMILE OF LETTER WRITTEN BY JOSEPH PRESTWICH . .168

DARENT-HULME ... ... 198

THE DINING-ROOM, DARENT-HULME ..... 200

PRESTWICHIA (LIMULUS) EOTUNDATA, PRESTW. .... 202

SIR WARINGTON W. SMYTH, F.R.S. . . . 210

SIR HENRY D. ACLAND, BART. ... . 250

SECTIONS OF THE DRIFT AT HALVE RN ..... 263

ROBERT ETHERIDGE, F.R.S. - • 308

PLATEAU IMPLEMENTS ....... 356

PROFESSOR T. RUPERT JONES, F.R.S. ..... 376

DIAGRAM SHOWING MODE OF OCCURRENCE OF PLATEAU IMPLEMENTS 386

And Nature, the old nurse, took
The child upon her knee,

Saying, ' Here is a story-book
Thy Father has written for thee.1

' Come, wander with me,' she said,
' Into regions yet untrod ;

And read what is still unread
In the manuscripts of God.' "

SIE JOSEPH PBESTWICH.

CHAPTEE I.
ANCESTRY AND YOUTH.

THE family of Prestwich of Prestwich 1 and Hulme,
from whom the subject of this memoir was descended,
were holders of land in the county of Lancaster at
a very early date. In the end of the twelfth century
they possessed estates in this county, and the name
occurs as Prestwych or Prestwich again and again,
now in one reign, now in another of the early English
kings, chiefly in records touching tenures of land,
marriages, &c. In 1301, among the nine witnesses to
Thomas de Grelle's charter to the burgesses of Man-
chester, are the signatures of Adam de Prestwiche, the
fifth witness, and Johe de Prestwyche, the ninth.

A curious document among the family papers is the
copy of a letter now in the British Museum, and dated
2nd April 1573, from Queen Elizabeth " To our trusty e
and well -beloved Edmunde Prestwyche Ar." After
recounting the necessity of putting the kingdom in
a state of defence, "the Queene" requires from him

1 The village of Prestwich is situated on the Coal Measures, about three
and a half miles north-west of Salford.

I, In- lo;.n of " ;i, me. ,ii'- p.. i Ion of monyn I - nl ill Homn
furlher iv;,Hon;d,le Myde may !.«• . JMV.-II DM hy I In-. whole
rnalmn, . . . and Uinrnfon- having niM.de < !ho; • • <• of

you II'. i yuill A hihl \ •«• «ood \vill yolle Ix-an- lo n . :md
our LV.dim wci: reojiiyn .'.u l.o |»,iy l.o our ii:,e Tin*

Minium- of liiriy. |.O,II,(]H;' (fee,, &o, "The
"".'I • |.iovi:.ioi, for its early repayment,

Illllmn II. ill. Mi' IIOIIK- of III-- r.iinil'v lor
«i ihoiiM, \vn.M II, jild MI ' •: i fin- li.i 1 1' I Mil I ii I i < I lion;, c on Mir
|)Htll<H of llic Irwnll, !:ilii.il'<l .idoiil. l,\vo niil<- ;,oiilli

\\ • I «.l'oM Manc.linMtnr : n.l. <>m* IIHK- it WM,H Hiirrouudcd

l»y II lllon.t, 11.11(1 it in |H-||I-V«M| |,n li;i,\<- IM-CM 01 '(• 1 1 1 . K •( |

I--.. <lo|iti id- llulinc iii MM- I'ri^rn of lli'iiiy II. Aikin,

ill IliH ' I I in lory of M;ui<-Iii';,l « i ' |>nl>li:.lir< I in I /'!).), ;:.i \ :;
<»!' I .Im I S'nMtvv

TliiM family, by embarking in the royal cause in the Civil Wan

nl Cl.mliM I , !,,.!, miirl. nf ll.cir |.n.],cil,y, ,•>,<> llml, in Mi.- ivij-.n ..I'
Kiir; \\ illi.ini, 1 1 u I me I l,i 1 1 .Mi.l r;il,iil.n wrrr Miilil, mill plirdlli nl

l»y Sit- Mdwnrd Monnlcy, who loft it, together with his other

nil nl ivi, l«> In: iliiii!'lil..-i Aim. \\ilr .. I Sir .lolm r.l.in.l, I'.inoiir! ,
who 111. nil- ii In-i i liit-i ic • i.lcin •!-. A! I In- (Iciil.h nf Ilirir MOM, Sii

.i.-lni I'.l ui.l. I'.. m. in i il u.i. ..I. I i.. (i. I l..\.l. I' .| .;i •! it, now

I" I IM I Mil.i- «.|' I'.i nl"c\\;ili-r.

Il VYollld .i])|M-.ir lli.il llic l.i;;l n,inic<| (>\\iicr l)l'ol<(i III)

thn vtMUU'iihlti JM|(^ ol' huildin^H into Iliirlv or forty

OOttn^'O-UuUUH^nt/H, <»l \\lildi l»ul III Mr if ;in\ \c;,h"r
iio\\ rrin.'illiM. Thr c:ir\cil «>,ik jcuicl,1;, \\hicli drcor.M t rd
Ihn hrHt room:;, wnrr | >n rcl 1:1; ;<•« I l»\ I lie M;irl of Mlh^S-
Ilinrn Mild rrinoxrd lo \\oi;;|< \ I hill. Tho MC-tllld Slt(^
of I Illlinn I 1,'dl \\ ,i:; ;il»onl .1 . ju.i i I <<r of M. inilr \\ < • :;l <•!' St
( l(MH'tJ^(Vn ( 'liurcli, i\l;i iii-lic;,! cr, in ;i Ir.icl IIONV tmvrrsrd
by (he M.Miiehc.'iler S<»u(h .1 uuci ioli Mhd A II rinrlmm
Kail way,

A lllioll^'ll tll(^ e,-;l ;i I e;; of I ho Illlltily lirn MOW all OWIltul

l>y olhiM'M, Mild Mllhoiij^h ,so le\\ Miirvivo (<> hriir tlu^

SIR THOMAS PRESTWTCH. 3

name, yet it will never pass into oblivion. For several
centuries it had been handed down in the Prestwich
gallery in the Cathedral or Collegiate Church in Man-
chester, where many of the race found their last rest-
ing-place. The gallery itself no longer exists. It is,
moreover, remembered in Manchester that the gift
of its first free library was made by the Rev. John
Prestwich, Fellow of All Souls', and brother of Sir
Thomas of the Civil Wars.

A baronetcy was conferred on Sir Thomas Prestwich,
on the 25th April 1644, by Charles L, on the field of
battle outside Oxford, as an acknowledgment of his
services to the royal cause, and in especial for having
raised a troop of horse at his own cost. Several small
gold medals or badges were then Struck off bearing the
effigy of the ill-fated king. One of these badges, given
to the new-made Baronet at Oxford, is in the keeping
of the writer.

Medal given by Charles I. to Sir Thomas Prestimch.
(Twice the actual size.)

As may be understood, the Prestwiches were greatly im-
poverished by the sacrifices they had made on behalf of the

4 SIR JOHN PRESTWICH.

Crown. At the head of the [Eoyalist] party in Manchester we
find the names of Holland, Egerton, Prestwich, Stanley, &c.
Sequestration and confiscation were put in force against the con-
quered in a manner most revolting. It was after this that in
1660 the sale of Hulme Hall took place, and this sale was con-
firmed by Act of Parliament in 1673. Towards the close of the
Civil War, Sir Thomas refused to give further assistance to the
royal cause, but that his mother prevailed upon him to continue
his allegiance, telling him that she had hidden treasures where-
with to supply his needs ; but unfortunately the old lady was
seized with apoplexy, and died before she could reveal her
secret.

It was supposed that this treasure was buried in the neigh-
bourhood of Hulme Hall, and for a long time afterwards gipsies
wandering about the country made considerable profit out of
this by selling the secret, which they pretended to know.

The baronetcy had been for many years in abeyance,
when it was assumed by John Prestwich (a cousin of
our geologist's father) ; but his claim to the title was
not legally acknowledged : he was not descended from
the first baronet, but from his cousin, and from a
younger son of that cousin. The father and grand-
father of the geologist repeatedly stated that they
were in possession of papers showing their descent.
One day, however, the father went to an election with
the said papers in his pocket ; on returning home the
pocket was empty, and the papers have never since
been heard of.

Sir John, who left no family, was greatly interested
in the Prestwich genealogy, and many volumes in MS.,
containing extracts from documents in the British
Museum, heralds' visitations, deeds, &c., which related
to the subject, were written by him with extreme care.
He was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, and a
manuscript by him on Earthquakes was published in

GREAT SEAL OF UNITED STATES. 5

1870 by our Joseph Prestwich in the * Geological Maga-
zine ' for that year. In 1775 his book on 'Mineral,
Animal, and Vegetable Poisons ' appeared ; but he is
best known by a work published in 1787, entitled
' Respublica, or a Display of the Honours, Ceremonies,
and Enseignes of the Commonwealth under the Pro-
tectorship of Oliver Cromwell,' &c.

It is interesting to note that it is to this Sir John
Prestwich that the United States are indebted for the
design of their Great Seal. Three committees had been
appointed, one after another, to prepare a seal, but as
none of their designs gave satisfaction to Congress, on
June 13th of the same year (1782) the whole matter
was finally referred by that body to Charles Thomson,
its secretary.

He procured several devices, among them an elaborate one
by William Barton of Philadelphia ; but none of them met with
approval until John Adams, then in London, sent him a design
suggested by Sir John Prestwich, an Englishman who was a
warm friend of America and an accomplished antiquarian.

It was described in 1782 as follows :—

Arms. — Paleways of thirteen pieces, argent and gules ; a chief
azure ; the escutcheon on the breast of the American eagle dis-
played proper, holding in his dexter talon an olive branch, and
in his sinister a bundle of thirteen arrows, all proper, and in his
beak a scroll inscribed with this motto : E Pluribus Unum.

For the Crest. — Over the head of the eagle, which appears
above the escutcheon, a glory or breaking through a cloud
proper, and surrounding thirteen stars, forming a constellation,
argent on an azure field.

Reverse. — A pyramid unfinished. In the zenith an eye in a
triangle, surrounded with a glory proper. Over the eye these
words, Annuit Cceptis (God has favoured the undertaking). On
the base of the pyramid the numerals MDCCLXXVI., and

6

PARENTAGE.

underneath the following motto : Novus Or do Soeculorum ("A
New Series of Ages "), denoting that a new order of things had
commenced in the Western World — or freely translated, "A
new era/'

The Great Seal of the United States.

This design of Sir John Prestwich's, which was
adopted as being the simplest and most significant
of any submitted, still remains the arms of the
United States. " It was strange " (as the writer of
the paragraph in an American paper observed) " that
after six years spent in deliberation, Congress should
have finally adopted a design by one of a nation with
whom America was then at war."

But all our interest centres in the Prestwich whose
life we shall now attempt to trace. His father, Joseph,
after whom he was named, was one of a firm of wine
merchants in Mark Lane, who imported, and supplied
the trade in the provinces as well as in Scotland and
Ireland. Joseph Prestwich, senior, was the only son
of Elias Prestwich of Broseley in Shropshire (whose
grandparents had migrated there from Ireland, one
of the family having taken refuge and settled there
during the Civil Wars) ; and his wife was Catherine,

PARENTAGE. 7

the only surviving daughter of Edward Blakeway, the
squire of Broseley. It was in Clapham, and amid its
then rural surroundings, that the father and mother of
our Joseph Prestwich began their married life.

Early in the century Clapham and its neighbourhood
were very different suburbs of London from what they
are to-day. The fields and green lanes of those years
have vanished, and their place has been invaded by
ever-extending blocks of brick and mortar. At that
time comfortable houses stood in their own grounds
or gardens, the gardens generally merging into pro-
ductive orchards. Now coal-trucks and sheds cover
sites which were noted for their heavy crops of fruit.
Then railways were unknown, nor had tram-cars, which
run in rapid succession in the now noisy thoroughfares,
ever been heard of. In short, the aspect of the place
is altogether changed.

Of the parents of Joseph Prestwich it may be re-
marked that his father was a man of ability, widely
read, with a knowledge of art, who enjoyed nothing
more than his tours and journeys in France and Hol-
land, when he was occasionally accompanied by his
wife. Foreign travel was then for the few, and was
not made easy for the many. He was of a sanguine
temperament, racy and witty — " very good company,"
as a relative explained, when describing his ever-ready
repartee.

The mother of our geologist, to whom throughout
life he was tenderly attached, was the eldest of seven.
Three of the little Blakeways died in childhood, and
the survivors were Catherine, Edward, John, and
James. Catherine (Mrs) Prestwich was greatly be-
loved by her family and friends : she was entirely
domestic, sweet -natured, and refined — a good wife and

8 PARENTAGE.

an affectionate mother. She made a happy home, and
her distinguished son in after-years often acknowledged
that he could not have accomplished the work that he
did but for the advantages of this quiet and cheer-
ful abode.

Mrs Prestwich was cast in a different mould from
her mother, whose maiden name was Prytherch. Mr
Blakeway of Broseley had been some time a widower
when he confided to his friend the Rev. Stephen
Prytherch, the vicar of Leigh ton (who had a bevy
of very handsome daughters), that his home was
lonely and that he wished to marry again : would he
give him one of his daughters? The vicar was de-
lighted, but the question was, Which ? His advice,
" Better take the eldest," was followed. It was a
wooing not long a - doing, and Catherine Prytherch
soon became Mrs Blakeway of Broseley Hall. Al-
though there was great disparity in age, the squire
being thirty years the lady's senior, she made an
excellent wife, and they became an attached couple.
But she was a strange mother : she made a point
of sending all her children out to nurse soon after
their birth, so as to have no further trouble with
them. They were placed with a much - respected
Quaker family, and their father, who was fond of
his children, rode daily over to see them. Mrs
Prestwich used to say that the amusement which
she and her little brothers liked best was sitting on
the banks of the river and listening to the sound of
the water. Their mother took no more concern about
them until they were sent home old enough to be
packed off to school. Thus mother and daughter
were very unlike : Mrs Blakeway with her marked
individuality and strong will, - - her daughter, Mrs

1812.] BIRTH. 9

Prestwich, all unselfishness and gentleness, and full of
though tfulness for others. The Blakeways had been
connected with the Church for many generations, and
a kinsman, the Rev. John Brickenden Blakeway, rector
of St Mary's, Shrewsbury, was joint author with Arch-
deacon Owen of a ' History of Shropshire.'

Mr and Mrs Prestwich had ten children, three of
whom died in infancy. The eldest surviving was our
geologist, who was born at Pensbury, Clapham, on the
12th March 1812, and whose death took place at
Darent-Hulme, Shoreham in Kent, on the 23rd June
1896. He was the second of the name, the first-born
Joseph having lived only a few months. Thus the two
sons and five daughters were Joseph, Isabella Civil,
Catherine, Eliza, Emily, Edward Elias, and Civil Mary.
The two survivors are Eliza (Mrs Tomkins) and Emily
Prestwich.

Among the family papers there are forty-two little
volumes of pocket-books containing brief diaries which
were kept by our Joseph Prestwich's mother, and which
date from the year of her marriage, 1809, to 1850, the
year of her death. The entries are short, being only a
few sentences recording the events of each day. But
the volume for 1812 has a pathetic interest: when a
second little Joseph had arrived to replace the first-
born, the daily entries betray the constant motherly
anxiety, and every symptom of the health of the
infant is recorded. We give no extract : the reading
was intended for a mother's eyes. In the diaries of
the next few years there is only occasional allusion
to little Joseph, since other children had been born
to share in and claim the maternal care. It is evident,
however, that the boy was, like most healthy little
boys, restlessly active, with a tendency to lead his

10 AUTOBIOGRAPHY. [l817.

small sisters into trouble. At the tender age of
five the child was placed as a boarder at a school
about a mile distant. This early launching into life
will be told in his own words, in a few pages of an
autobiography which nearly eighty years later Joseph
Prestwich had been urged to write, and which had
only just been begun in those last months when he
was attacked by fatal illness : —

I must have been a mischievous boy. At five years of age
I was sent to school. The last misdemeanour which led to it
was this. Our house at Lavender Hill stood in a large garden
and orchard in which was a fish-pond. One fine summer's day
the nurse was, I am told, sent to fetch us children and put us to
bed. Preferring an outdoor life, I persuaded my little sister,
who was eighteen months younger than myself, to hide in the
pond, where I felt sure they would never seek us. Accordingly
we marched in until the water was up to our necks, and there
we might have remained, heedless of the cries of the nurse, until
what I judged would be a fitter time for bed, had not my sister
betrayed us by an uncontrollable fit of laughter.

The school to which I was sent at Wandsworth was about a
mile distant from our home, and was kept by a Madame Saqui,
I presume a French emigrant. She suffered from dropsy, and
adopted a mode of exercise which I have never since seen. At
the end of the schoolroom was a tall seat formed by thick
cushions with springs, and having arms to hold on by on either
side. On this she bobbed up and down, while she could see
all that was going on in the schoolroom. It was very comical,
but to laugh we dared not. I do not remember what I learned
— I imagine it was but little. I remember better our amuse-
ments. At that time (1817) fairs were held in all towns and
villages around London, which had its own great central fair
in Smithfield. To the Wandsworth fair we never failed to be
led, and were then each presented with a bun. We had also
our daily walks. On one of those we passed by the lodge of
our house, and the gate being open, and having an innate
dislike to school, I ran off down the avenue until stopped by

Ml. 5.] CHILDHOOD. 11

the barking of a little dog which fronted me : whence possibly
my subsequent want of affection for the species.

This school being found too near home, I was sent to one on
Forest Hill. Again the fairs on Peckham Eye and Camberwell
Green are the objects which cling most to my recollection. We
were, I think, treated kindly, though our fare was at times
somewhat hard. On Saturdays, the servants being much occu-
pied, the ordinary dinner was replaced by a more simple meal
of bread and cheese, the bread being not unfrequently speckled
green. Our playground was a field on the top of a hill of bare
London clay. I then had a small garden in which I dug what
I was pleased to consider a well, London clay being water-
tight. I had the satisfaction of frequently having it full of
water. How little I thought then how much I should sub-
sequently be connected with the structure and geological history
of that formation. When the field was too wet we were allotted
200 to 300 yards of the public road which ran in front of the
house for our playground, and occasionally levied small black-
mail on the few passers-by.

In the meantime our family had removed from Lavender
Hill to " The Eetreat," South Lambeth. It was a three- storey ed
house surrounded by a parapet wall. A favourite amusement
was to walk all round the wall followed by the most fearless
of my sisters, but the amusement not being considered safe, it
was stopped. I was now sent to a day-school adjoining, where
I fear my book studies progressed no more rapidly than before.
Nature had more attractions for me. With my sisters we used
to walk along the Wandsworth Koad as far as Lavender Hill,
and I well remember the interest with which I noticed two
springs which then existed on that road. One was on Eush
Hill, where it broke out from beneath a bed of gravel lying
on the London clay. The other was at a lower level, and at
the base of the gravel covering Battersea Fields. How well
I remember wondering where the water came from : it was a
mystery. These springs have long since disappeared from sight,
for the road is no longer the quiet country road it was then,
with only an occasional vehicle passing, but had been, when I
last saw it, transformed into the resemblance of the Whitechapel
Eoad, paved and street-like.

12 AUTOBIOGRAPHY. [l823.

Our clergyman was a man of the world and of society. At
his house I saw among many public characters Rammohun Roy,
whose conversion to Unitarianism made at that time a great stir
in London. He was a tall, striking-looking, grave man of about
forty. Barnes, the editor of the 'Times,' was also a frequent
visitor there.

It was now decided that I should be sent to school in Paris.
Accordingly, early one fine summer morning, escorted by both
parents and with my eldest sister, we started in the basket of
the Union coach for Dover. 'Arriving in the evening, we had to
wait till next day for crossing. Starting at ten, Calais was
reached at about twelve. The rest of the day was spent in
passing our luggage through the custom-house, getting our pass-
ports vise*d, and securing places in the diligence. Before leav-
ing Calais, I took the opportunity of going down one of the
shallow wells which were then to be found in most of the court-
yards of the town, and came up, I imagine, not much the wiser.
Diligences started for Paris morning and evening. We left on
a morning by the Messageries Royales, and after spending two
nights and part of two days on the road, arrived in the great
yard in the Rue Notre Dame des Victoires. I was now eleven
years old, and the interest I felt in all I saw was excessive. I
was never tired of seeing the streets — which then, with the
exception of the Rue de la Paix, had no footpaths — and of watch-
ing the traffic and listening to the many cries.

The school selected for me was at the top of the Rue des
Martyrs, at the foot of Montmartre. It was a large school, kept
by a M. Colin. I was placed more particularly in charge of
Mme. Colin and their only daughter, Mdlle. Fannie, who was two
to three years older than myself. M. Colin was a man about
forty, with only one leg— a sight at that time very common in
Paris, when men with one leg or arm were constantly met with.
I was the only English boy in the school, and nothing could be
kinder than their treatment of me. I was a little bullied by the
boys, for Waterloo was then of fresh memory, but I always found
a few to take my part : there was the cachot if they were caught
in the act [of bullying me], so I got on very well. The place
was barrack-like and the fare simple. The floors were all tiled
and the dormitories without furniture. . . The breakfast was

JET. 11.] SCHOOL DAYS IN PARIS. 13

very simple: the boys marched into the rtfectoire, where long
loaves were run under a sort of chaff-cutting machine, and as
the great hunks fell on one side they were snatched up by the
boys — played at ball with, and then eaten and washed down
with a little water. Dinner consisted *of bouillon and boidlli
followed by a dish of vegetables, the beverage being what the
boys called attendance — that is to say, one bottle of vin ordinaire
to one bucket of water. But all seemed contented, whilst I, as a
stranger, was allowed a few indulgences. The school, however,
soon broke up, and M. Colin removed to a small house, with a
few boys, lower down the street.

Education in Paris was at that time (1823) very cheap. As
extras I was taught, besides Italian, drawing, dancing, and fenc-
ing, at one franc per lesson. Our school was attached to the
College Bourbon (changed to the Lyc($e Condorcet), but I was
considered too young to profit by the connection. Amongst the
students attending the College was the Due d'Orleans, son of
Louis Philippe, who a few years later was killed by a fall from
his carriage. We had two half-holidays a week, when we were
taken generally either to play in amongst the chestnut-trees of
the Tuileries gardens, or to the top of Montmartre with its
swings and quarries. The fossils were then unknown to me, but
I took great interest in the fine crystals of gypsum, which we could
cleave into plates as thin as a wafer and as clear as glass. In
summer we were frequently taken to one of the large baths on
the Seine, and there, wrapped in a peignoir, would spend long
hours. On Sundays I was taken to the French Protestant
church, or else went to spend the day with my sister in the Rue
de Valois. Occasionally Mdlle. Fannie would take me with her
in early morning to the great central markets. Nothing, in fact,
could have been kinder and more considerate than the treatment
I received, and I shall ever hold the memory of M. Colin and his
family in affectionate remembrance. Mme. Colin treated me as
a son. In fact, Mdlle. Fannie used to exclaim, " Oh ! qu'il est
gate ce petit Joseph ! " But with all this my studies were not
neglected, and I learned easily and quickly.

He was petted and caressed, but was not spoilt,
and the happiness of school - life in Paris was never

14 SCHOOL DAYS IN PARIS. [1824.

forgotten. Perhaps in later years the very remem-
brance of it unconsciously acted as a magnet, and drew
him . to France and to his many friends there. A few
months after his arrival the boy had an illness, and
such was M. and Mme. Colin's kindness that they
had him then to sleep in their own room. The reason
that Madame Colin alleged for her devotion to the
little English boy was always, " II est si raisonnable,
le petit Joseph ! " It is not surprising that Made-
moiselle Fannie became jealous. This jealousy, how-
ever, on the part of the young daughter was short-
lived, and when in later years she became Madame
Nyon, her eldest child was named after the sister of
" le petit Joseph."

The letters which he sent to his father at this time
— always in French — are very amusing. The following
is a specimen : —

PAKIS, Mars 9, 1824.

Mox CHER PAPA, — Je ne vous ai pas ecrit plutot parceque je
voulais attendre j usqu'a la fin du carnaval pour vous dire tout ce
que j'ai vu. Le premier dimanche appele le dimanche gras, j'ai
etc* voir le bceuf gras qui est le plus beau qui se trouve dans tout
Paris, il est suivi d'un char dans lequel il y a un joli petit enfant
habille comme un amour, le char est conduit par un homme qui
represente le temps, tous ceux qui 1'entourent et tous les musici-
ens qui I'accompagnent sont deguises en soldats romains. Apres
avoir vu cette mascarade qui attire tou jours la foule, j'ai e'te me
promener sur les boulevards pour voir les masques, mais comme
il faisait un tres mauvais temps je n'en ai pas vu beaucoup.
Lundi je suis alle* au spectacle ou j'ai vu Pierre de Portugal,
tragedie de Mr Arnauld, et les rendez-vous bourgeois travestis,
cette derniere piece est une farce de carnaval dans laquelle tous
les hommes sont deguises en femmes et toutes les femmes de*-
guisees en hommes. Mardi j'ai vu dans les voitures beaucoup de
masques tres droles qui allaient a un bal masque. Le soir chaque
eleve a mis quinze sous nous avons achete du cidre, une tarte ala

JET. 12.] SCHOOL DAYS IN PARIS. 15

frangipane et d'autres choses. Madame Colin nous a donne une
creme, des crepes, des cerises, du vin, et du jus de la fleur
d'orange et avec cela, nous avons fait une jolie collation apres
laquelle nous avons e"te" nous coucher. Je n'ai recu votre lettre
que six semaines apres qu'elle avait ete ecrite car vous 1'avez ecrite
le 19 Janvier, et je ne 1'ai recu que le 7 Mars. J'ai appris de
Madame Thiebaut que j'avais une nouvelle petite soeur cela m'a
cause beaucoup de joie. Je donnerai mes dessins a Madame
Billin qui les enverra en Angleterre par 1'Ambassadeur. J'ai
presque fini celui qui est destin^ a Monsieur Colin. Je n'ai pas
encore commence le paysage mais je m'[en] occuperai bientot si
vous le desirez. J'ai un nouveau maitre de danse qui est bien
meilleur que le dernier, car il me fait faire beaucoup d'exercices.
J'ai e*te voir le spectacle franconi avec ma soeur, Madame Thie-
baut et Mademoiselle Victoire. On donnait la prise de trocadero
et le petit tambour. Je vous remercie bien des dix francs que
vous m'avez envoye's mais je les devais pour le panier que j'ai
donne a ma sosur et je les ai paye"s tout de suite. Isabelle et moi
nous nous portons tres bien. J'espere que vous, Maman, mes
sceurs et mon frere et ma [bonne] se portent bien. Adieu, mon
cher Papa. — Je suis votre fils soumis, J. PKESTWICH.

After this date his father stipulated that all his
letters were to be sent as they were written — un-
corrected.

The boy delighted in Paris, and entered with keen
enjoyment into the life and amusements of the school.
He made great progress in drawing, for which he had
unusual talent, and the crayon heads, &c., which he
sent home from time to time, were remarkable as the
work of a schoolboy. This faculty for drawing proved
of great service to him in after-life when sketching
sections in the field.

In reading these few pages of autobiography we
have to bear in mind that this MS., alas ! was never
re-read, never corrected by its writer.

16 AUTOBIOGRAPHY. [l825.

And now began iny education in earnest. I soon mastered
French, and carried away various prizes — amongst others that
for Cacographie, which consisted in rendering into correct French
a paper of text badly spelt. My translations of Latin into
French were approved, and my reading of Dante and Ariosto
gave satisfaction to my Italian master, who recorded his approval
in the following lines 1 : —

" Al Gentilissimo Signer GIUSEPPE PRESTWICH in attestato di verace
affetto il servo suo divoto FREDERICK) BROGLIO.

SONNET
(of which a free translation is here given)?

"PARIS, 8th July 1825.

" When now, as wont, you turn and leave behind
Fair France, at this last moment, in words brief,
Full of esteem and love for you, I find
Expression for my thoughts and for my grief.
Benign One ! hearken to my loving lay.
May not these accents to the winds be sent,
But in my heart for ever may you stay,
There find a home and soften my lament.
On your return midst household gods again,
With troops of chosen friends around you, then,
Upon that man unknown to fame, ah ! deign
Upon him, far removed by seas, as when
He taught you Tuscan tones in bygone days,
To think, for he will ever love and praise ! "

Amongst the public events which I witnessed during my
residence in Paris were the return of the French army from
Spain and the arrival of the Duke of Northumberland as
ambassador to "Louis Dix-huit." The procession of carriages
and military in the latter case was very gorgeous, and the most
extravagant reports were circulated of the great wealth of the
Duke. I was in the crowd in the Rue du Faubourg Saint
Denis, and the people around me were speculating, not upon
his yearly income, but upon how much he was in receipt of

1 These were evidently farewell verses addressed to him when leaving
school in Paris.

2 By the writer's youngest sister.

JET. 13.] SCHOOL-DAYS AT NORWOOD. 17

per day, per hour, and per minute. At the other striking
scene I climbed on the pedestal of the great statue at the
entrance to the Tuileries, where I could command a view from
the Arc de 1'fitoile down the Champs Elysees, the whole length
of which was filled by squadrons of foot and cavalry marching
in from ISTeuilly. I think it took them about two hours to
defile by. They were a fine body of men, much stained and
weatherbeaten. The exhibition of fireworks at night was on
a large scale, and very effective.

At the end of two years, during which I had once visited
England, I returned home. My French costume created some
amusement. I wore a long blue swallow-tailed coat with brass
buttons and a tall hat. I found that in the meantime the
family had removed from "The Eetreat" to "The Lawn" —
the house No. 8, afterwards occupied by Mr Fawcett. I was
now sent to a school at Norwood. ... I here received my
first introduction to science — one master giving us occasional
lectures on chemistry, which fascinated me ; but my home-work
was confined for a time to chemical experiments.

I was also instructed in history, geography, arithmetic, and
book-keeping. On holidays we played hockey with the masters,
as I had done in Paris. In the autumn we were allowed a day's
run in the wood, which then extended from Norwood to Penge,
to gather blackberries, which afterwards appeared on the table
for three days in the shape of blackberry puddings. I then
made my first and last appearance on the stage in the " Bourgeois
Gentilhomme " of Moliere ; but though I was a good French
scholar, my performance was not such as to encourage for me a
repetition of it at this annual festival.

At that time Guy Fawkes' Day was religiously kept by all
boys. We were allowed to gather sticks in the woods, and
these, with the aid of a tar -barrel, made a large bonfire, on
which a guy was burnt to the accompaniment of many squibs
and crackers.

I was now sent to Dr Valpy's school at Eeading, who con-
sidered that my education had been greatly neglected, as I
knew nothing of Greek. Here I went through the usual course
of classics, with a little geography in the shape of a paid
extra. I managed to escape flogging for the two years I was

B

18 SCHOOL-DAYS AT BEADING. [1827.

there, though I was occasionally called upon to hoist better
scholars than myself. The doctor was noted for his flogging
propensities; but having the authority of my father to run
away in case I had to change places in this performance, the
thought of it gave me but little anxiety, otherwise the discipline
was not strict. In fact, it was too much the contrary — at least
on the side where I was boarded.

Dr Valpy was a noted classical scholar, and doubt-
less found that the boy's education had been sadly
desultory. We do not hear of Joseph having taken
a good place in the school ; his dancing, drawing,
and fencing, his Italian and French, could not have
helped him much. He was said to be " a quiet, shy
boy, but full of energy, and always the leader of his
companions." His letters from Reading find him in-
variably in the same financial position as he found
himself when in Paris : when pocket-money was sent
it was spent directly in presents for those at home, and
always included a gift for his old nurse, thus leaving
him penniless. The thorough way in which in one
Reading letter the schoolboy makes a financial state-
ment to his father, when he had not the means to
pay his debts, and the method by which he shows
every side of the case quite dispassionately, either for
or against himself, were characteristic of him through-
out life. He entered with zest into all the fun among
the boys, who used to buy of the day-boarders black-
birds and thrushes, which they roasted and ate with
relish. They also made custards in private, and ex-
cellently well they made them.

The urgency of the postscript in this Reading letter
will provoke a smile : —

READING, May 1827.

DEAR FATHER, — I received your letter about three weeks ago,
which I intended to have answered the next day had not a
cricket-ball knocked off the top of my little finger, which has

JET. 15.] SCHOOL-DAYS AT BEADING. 19

hindered me from writing till the present moment : it is not well
yet, and I have only just begun to write. I am very much
obliged to you for the pound you ordered Mr Knight to give me,
but which I am ashamed yet forced to own I have spent ; for
there are an old man and woman that live on the Forbery who
sell to us all sorts of things that we want. When you sent me
the money I owed them about 15s. I went to pay her directly I
got the money, but she said that I must wait till she made my bill.
The next day being the fair day, I spent a great part of it in
books, but I did not buy any trash, nor go into any shows ; with
the rest I paid my debts to the boys, and before she had finished
my bill (which was a day or two ago) all my money was gone.
But why I wish you to send me some now is because yesterday
one of the Doctor's sons, a clergyman, went into the shop, and
seeing a great many bills lying upon the table, took them up,
and perceiving that the boys owed her a great deal, some of
them £2 or £3, and others only 6d. or 9d., went to the Doctor
and told him of it, who said that he would put all the boys on
the obstinate list (when any one is on it, he has to do a long
imposition every day, has to say almost all the lesson when his
class goes up, generally gets caned if he says a word wrong, and
seldom escapes a flogging during the week) till it is paid off,
which he does by giving the woman sixpence a-day for those
that owe her anything until they are out of her debt, so I should
be on the list for a month. So, dear father, it would be the same
to you whether you send it me now or had it put down on
your bill. Please, if you send the money at all, send it before
the end of this week. I was rather surprised when you said I
was not to have any parcels ; but since it is your desire that I
should not have any I will submit to it, though I should prefer
having them continued, for though it is a great school, most of
the boys don't despise having wine, cakes, fruits, &c., sent them.
I have not bathed yet, for I do not think it warm enough. Please
to excuse the writing on account of my finger, which I find very
awkward still. I hope you, dear mother, sisters, and brother are
quite well ; and with my love to you and them, I remain, dear
father, your dutiful son, J. PRESTWICH.

N.B. — Please to answer this letter directly, if it is convenient
to you. Mr and Mrs Hornbuckle desire their compliments to you.

20 AUTOBIOGRAPHY. [l828.

The autobiography continues : —

On the occasion of the battle of Navarino, where the combined
fleets of England, France, and Eussia managed to destroy the
Turkish fleet, greatly to the advantage of the latter Power and
little to the profit of the first two, the boys were given a half
holiday, and naturally looked upon the battle as a glorious vic-
tory. A great event was a general election, for as elections then
lasted three weeks, the boys shared in the excitement by siding
with the blues or the yellows, finding it a pleasant break in the
monotony of school-life. Boating and bathing we had in plenty
in the Thames at Caversham and Pangbourne. Among my con-
temporaries there was Jackson, afterwards Bishop of London, a
studious tall lad, who joined but little in the school games.
Reading was then a quiet country town without railways, and
with little trade except its breweries ; [Huntley and] Palmer and
Sutton were still below the horizon.

Leaving school, I was entered at sixteen years of age at Uni-
versity College, London, then recently opened. Having partly
my own choice of subjects, I selected Chemistry under Dr Turner,
a popular and excellent teacher ; English under Mr Dale ; Latin,
Prof. Key; Greek, Prof. Long; Natural Philosophy under Dr
Lardner ; and Mathematics, Augustus de Morgan. As I had to
walk four miles daily to and from South Lambeth, I found my
curriculum rather too extended; and as I had little liking for
the classics, I fear I neglected them in favour of chemistry and
natural philosophy.

Unfortunately I missed the first few mathematical [lectures],
and then feeling discouraged in being unable to follow, I ceased
to attend, much to my subsequent regret. All my spare time,
spare pocket-money, and spare thoughts were spent on chemistry.
I also entered the practical class, then under the direction of
Robert Warington, a most kind and painstaking teacher. In
this subject I passed a good examination and obtained a certifi-
cate [with honours, Ed.~\

At " The Lawn," at the foot of a few steps leading
down from the breakfast-room, there was a small dark
room, which was our student's laboratory, and known

JST. 16.] HOME LIFE AND CHARACTER. 21

as his "Den." When at home he was usually to be
found in it at work amongst his minerals, acids, &c.
Here he manufactured the laughing-gas which he
administered to his companions (and he had always
a following), with occasionally alarming effects ; here
he blew glass and set himself to make philosophical
instruments. The five young sisters hung upon his
words, and looked up with admiration at their clever
elder brother, sharing in the delight and often in the
danger of some of the experiments. Frequently in
later years he urged that every boy and girl should
be taught at least the elements of chemistry.

In appearance the thin tall stripling, now 5 feet
10 inches in height, resembled his mother's family.
He had strongly marked features, a clear fresh com-
plexion, a thick crop of hair which was nearly black,
and an unusually fine forehead. But his eyes were
the great feature of his face, — luminous hazel eyes
which mirrored every emotion, now liquid, yet always
with a light in them, or when indignant or angry (and
he could be both) flashing fire. Naturally he was
quick in temper, and on one occasion when his anger
lasted, and when reminded that this was possibly the
temper of his ancestor, the old knight-banneret, crop-
ping out, he burst into laughter, and the anger, like a
lightning - flash, went as it came. Nothing stirred
his indignation so much as when he met what was
false, or a sham, or underhand, and then he spoke
out his mind. He could not conscientiously join in
repeating the Athanasian Creed, so he made no feint
of an open prayer-book, but deliberately shut it, whereas
when the " Benedicite omnia opera" was sung, no one
in the congregation joined with greater fervour. He
delighted in that song of praise.

22 UNIVERSITY COLLEGE. [1828-30.

At this period of his short college course he was
in the habit of versifying, writing rhymes to his com-
panions, or penning sonnets to his pretty partners
at dances, — and he had always many pretty partners,
being quite what is termed " a lady's man." Later
on we hear of his escorting his sisters and elder
cousins, and also daughters of friends, to school in
France, a responsibility which rested very agreeably
on his shoulders. His poetry consisted chiefly of Odes
in blank verse on Nature's varying and changing
moods, of which he was the watchful observer. Al-
though never a talkative lad, he was eminently soci-
able, his father and mother were both hospitable, and
in all the exuberance of his young life he enjoyed
to a degree the evening parties and gatherings of
relatives and friends.

Yet underlying all his delightful buoyancy of spirits
there was that intense earnestness — that determination
to interpret for himself the records of the rocks. He
was preparing for that work, the obstacles to which
at one period seemed overwhelming, but to which he
was steadfast throughout life, and which held his heart
to the very end.

It is evident that while at University College every
subject was neglected for the sake of chemistry and
natural philosophy. It is evident, too, that he took
the direction of his studies into his own hands : Latin
and Greek were set aside ; mathematics also were
neglected, though most unwillingly. On leaving col-
lege he worked at mathematics with a private tutor,
but never ceased to regret that he had not attended
the college course. In the intervals between lectures
he frequented the British Museum : he also found time

,ET. 16-18.] OIL-PAINTING. 23

for lessons in oil-painting and lithography from Mr
Waterhouse Hawkins. Subsequently the sale of his
paintings enabled him to purchase materials and ap-
paratus for experiments.

The economies which he practised during those
college days, in order to provide himself with money
for the purchase of chemical materials, were carried to
excess, and involved no little self-denial. An ample
allowance was given to him for dinner in town, but,
conscious of his parents' liberality, he never confessed
to the family that most frequently dinner consisted
of a bun or a roll, or occasionally a sausage - roll.
" The Lawn" at South Lambeth was four miles distant
from University College, so that daily he had an eight
miles' walk, which was lengthened by his making a
long round by Doulton's factories, to save the toll
on Vauxhall Bridge, which was the direct road. One
ingenious device to put him in funds was the sale
to his mother of arrowroot made from potatoes at
so much per lb., she having presented him with the
potatoes I Then there was a great demand for arrow-
root in the household, the young sisters petitioning for
its daily consumption.

In jottings for 1831 there is an entry of three oil-
paintings being given in part payment for a mountain
barometer and sextant. The only specimen of his
painting which escaped conversion into money is the
copy of a small picture by Wouvermann.

The system of working hard day after day on
stinted food must have had a bad effect on his health,
and it is a question whether it did not tell injuriously
on him in after-life. Supper over, whether tired or
not, he repeated some experiments to the small

24 EARLY GEOLOGICAL STUDIES. [1828-30.

appreciative family audience, which was often in-
creased by one or two old school -fellows, who were
always welcome.

At that time geology was not taught anywhere in London.
The only nominal instruction then in geology and mineralogy was
to be had in three lectures by Dr Turner at the end of his course
of forty lectures on chemistry. Parkinson's ' Organic Eemains '
in three quarto volumes and his small octavo in one volume
constituted the student's stock-in-trade.1

I had a Conularia from Coalbrook Dale. It puzzled me, as it
did the Professors of my acquaintance.2 Chemical analysis led
me to the study of rocks and minerals, so it was on that side that
I approached geology. The variety of paving-stones which I
passed in my daily walks to college caught my attention, and led
me to inquire what they were made of and how made. I used
also to go to the British Museum in Great Eussell Street to in-
spect the organic remains, and pondered especially over the
well-preserved and attractive series of the Calcaire Grassier.3

The following years my holidays were spent at Broseley in
Shropshire, a market-town celebrated for its tobacco-pipes and
iron- and coal-works. The latter soon attracted my attention,
and I spent hours at the heaps of ironstone, the seam worked
being the Pennystone, so rich in marine remains. My chief
work there was, however, on a subsequent and longer visit.

It is pleasant to find that on one of these journeys to
Broseley he was most kindly and hospitably received by
his grandmother, who, as he reports in a letter to " The
Lawn," " entertained me sumptuously." An anecdote
is told of her, that when on a visit to Mrs Prestwich,

1 Sowerby's ( Mineral Conchology/ then in course of publication, was
beyond the student's reach.

2 The true relationship of Conularia has not yet been established,
although it is regarded as a Pteropod, belonging to an order of pelagic
Mollusca.

3 A richly fossiliferous series of limestones, &c., equivalent to our
Bracklesham Beds.

JET. 16-18.] VISIT TO BROSELEY. 25

her only daughter, to whom she was greatly attached,
the young Prestwiches were all away from home.
Kate, the second grandchild, happened to arrive one
day at " The Lawn " before the departure of her grand-
mother, whose exclamation, " Snow in harvest," testified
to anything but pleasure when she was told of the home-
coming of the young girl. Doubtless Mrs Blakeway
felt disappointed at the interruption to the quiet of her
visit, and at the distraction that a child in the house
must cause to the mother. On her visits to " The
Lawn," Mrs Blakeway's custom had been to give a
present in money to each of her Prestwich grand-
children ; but to Joseph, the eldest, when a boy, she
only gave half of what she bestowed 011 his sisters,
saying she knew " that his money would be all spent
directly " !

Yet although she would have nothing to say to chil-
dren, this very original old lady had keen pleasure in
the society of her grandson when he was no longer a
child. His name must have been made widely known
throughout the Broseley district by the miners. His
youth, his enthusiasm in descending and working among
their coal-pits, and his characteristic courtesy to all
with whom he came in contact, must have won their
hearts.

His grandmother often declared that she intended to
live as long as her husband, who died in his ninety-third
year, and she actually attained that age.

26

CHAPTEE II.

1830-1834.

CITY AND HOME LIFE — ZETETICAL SOCIETY — VISITS TO
SHROPSHIRE — NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.

WHEN Joseph Prestwich entered upon his City career,
which was to last over forty years, he was about
eighteen years of age. It was not the career he would
have chosen, it was not congenial, but circumstances
were such that it was his duty to adopt it, and there-
fore he applied himself to business with all the con-
scientiousness and earnestness of his nature. Perhaps
there are few endowed as he was, who would have had
the moral courage to resist the fascinations of science.
At the outset he planned out his life and resolved that
there should be no interruption to his geological work.
The hours at his own disposal he allotted, as before, to
the identification of fossils and to the analysis of
minerals. Time for that work, and for practical chem-
istry as well as for his mathematics and reading, had
to be found in the early morning before breakfast and
after his return from the City at six or seven in the
evening, when each hour had its appointed subject.
By this method he was able to accomplish much ; yet
one is at a loss to understand how he found leisure

JET. 18.] HOME STUDIES. 27

also for painting and for his very successful lithog-
raphy. As will be seen by the table on page 28, he
gave a stated time to read with his sisters, who were
respectively fourteen, fifteen, and nearly seventeen
years of age.

This unobtrusive little table is strongly significant.
It was planned by no promptings from without. The
youth seemed to have had an intuitive consciousness
that there was something for him to do, that he him-
self might aspire to demonstrate some truth in God's
nature, and henceforward every hour he could call his
own was set apart to train and gird himself for the
task. He had an uplifting purpose in life from which
he never swerved, and hindrances seemed to be stimu-
lants instead of deterrents. Yet with all this stern and
persistent devotion to close study, no one more enjoyed
with gladness of heart the Christmas dances and family
parties. There was constant and affectionate inter-
course between the Prestwiches and their young
cousins, the children of Mr John Blakeway. One of
that large family of ten cousins was Mrs Houquette,
with whom there was close intimacy throughout life ;
another is Mrs Mushet ; and one is Mrs G. Murray
Smith, wife of the publisher. Young Prestwich had a
passion for waltzing, an exercise which suited his active
temperament, and as quadrille -parties were also then
in fashion, there were frequent opportunities for this
welcome relaxation from incessant desk and head work.
Music was always a great pleasure to him : the only
instrument, however, that he played was the flute.

Eventually he found that there was time for little
else but geology. Saturdays and Sundays came to
be regarded as his own, when he went out to observe
and learn, and when the foundation was laid of his

28

HOME STUDIES.

[1830.

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J3T. 18.1 GEOLOGICAL RAMBLES. 29

knowledge of the geological structure of the London
basin. Dr G. Owen Hees,1 his friend from boyhood,
was a frequent companion in these Saturday and Sun-
day walks, when he often laughingly declared that
Joseph always starved him. The same complaint was
made in after years by one or two other friends, who
grumbled at the hard and scant fare, yet who were
always eager to accompany him. One in especial was
Edward I'Anson,2 the eminent architect, whose wife
was Catherine, the second daughter of Mr John Blake-
way, the uncle of our geologist. They had been brought
up together as children — nay, as infants (having been
near neighbours), and throughout life they remained
the same attached friends. When veterans with a long
retrospect of years, it was touching to hear them ad-
dress each other as "Edward" and "Joseph," which
they did to the last. Hees told humorous anecdotes of
their geological adventures. Once, late on a Saturday
night, the two young men arrived at a village inn not
far from Prestwich's future home, and asked for quar-
ters. Dusty and worn, and in clothing not improved
from visits to pits, and one of them probably with a
rough bag of fossils and sundry specimens of clay or
gravel slung over his shoulders, they were looked upon
as suspicious characters, and refused admittance ; so
they had nothing for it but to trudge on several miles
in the dark to a more hospitable house, which was not
reached until midnight.

When the family in 1830 were at Boulogne for the
holidays, we hear that Joseph took his brother Edward,
a boy of ten, to inspect certain quarries which were

1 G. Owen Rees, M.D. ; born in 1813, died 1889.

2 Edward I'Anson, F.G.S., President of the Royal Institute of British
Architects ; born in 1812, died in 1888.

30 AUTOBIOGRAPHY. [1830-31.

fifteen miles distant. An account-book for that year is
chiefly a list of small disbursements for fossils and many
varieties of minerals, showing the strong bent of his
mind.

A large scrap-book of printed geological sections, and
quaint, crude views of coal-mines, volcanoes, basaltic
rocks, minerals, skeletons of Plesiosaurus, &c., and with
descriptive letterpress, is very interesting. In its pages
are occasional verses, entirely geological, gleaned chiefly
from ' An Old Fragment.' A quotation from Milton is
given in the first page : —

" He the world

Built on circumfluous waters calm, in wide
Crystalline ocean."

This scrap-book also contained a coloured map and
sections of the Boulogne district, which were evidently
drawn during the summer sojourn of the Prestwrich
family there, as they bear the inscription in his hand-
writing : " Carte et Profils geognostiques du Bassin du
Bas Boulonnais, par M. Rozet, J. Prestwich fecit. July
1830." He was then eighteen years of age.

The last portion of the autobiography touches upon
another favourite holiday resort: —

I soon had the opportunity of studying the subject in the field,
my holidays being [again] spent at Broseley in the Coalbrook Dale
Coalfield, where Pennystone iron-ore was [still] largely worked,
and where I revelled day after day. I was shown by Mr John
Anstie his fine collections from the Madeley pits, and he kindly
gave me every facility to study or make use of his specimens.
They had already attracted the attention of Dr Buckland, who, I
was told, coming one day to see the collection with bag and much
mudded, went to the back door and experienced some difficulty
from the servants in getting admitted. I also descended a large
number of the pits to see the underground structure of the fossil
plants in situ.

JET. 18-19.] COALBROOK DALE. 31

His father naturally did not like those descents into
coal-pits, and in a letter (when the young Joseph had
gone to Broseley, accompanied by the son of their friend
Mr Newton) writes : " Mr Newton, senior, has nothing
to communicate. On my part I have to request that
you would not allow his son to go into a coal-pit. I
do not like the exploit for yourself, and as you have
already descended into them you will not be accused of
a superficial knowledge of your subject if you make
your further researches by deputy."

But Joseph Prestwich's work was never done by
deputy.

For a small remuneration (for then the wages of the working
miners were only 2s. for a long day), I enlisted the services of
several working men. The overlookers were also generally
very willing to assist, so I returned night after night with
my bag full. The pits were not large, nor were they very
deep. From 150 to 500 feet was the general run. Descending
them, however, was often a rough task. Sometimes we de-
scended on trays ; at other times we stood on the platform ; a
chain loop attached to the main rope was handed to each man,
through which we placed one leg. At a given signal the rope
was drawn up a few feet, when we all (generally there were seven
or eight men) swung together like so many herrings at the end
of a bunch, and then holding on to one another we were let
down to the bottom. Sometimes the descent was in an up
shaft which would be full of smoke and like descending a
chimney. However, I considered myself well rewarded by the
sight of the strata and especially the faults, nor did I overlook
the surface. The one-inch ordnance map of the district was
just then published, the cost being 16s. a -sheet. On this I
laid down the surface geology, and with the aid of the pit
sections, which were ever here readily given to me with per-
mission to copy, I drew up my Memoir on Coalbrook Dale,
which, later on, was published in the ' Transactions of the Geo-
logical Society.' Sir Koderick Murchison, who was working in

32 COALBROOK DALE. [l832.

the adjacent Silurian district, kindly gave me the benefit of
his advice respecting the latter, and led me to make a con-
siderable collection of Wenlock fossils. My kind friends the
Pritchards of Broseley also placed a room at my disposal, which
I soon filled.

Lindley 1 was then bringing out his ' Fossil Flora of Great
Britain/ and I was able to furnish him with several new species,
and to profit by his suggestions. I had now made the acquaint-
ance of my lifelong friend, [Professor] John Morris,2 who under-
took to describe and figure the plants for my Memoir, while the
shells were taken in hand by Mr Sowerby. It was some time,
however, before the paper appeared in the Transactions. My
works of reference were Artis's ' Phytology,' and Lindley and
Button's 'Fossil Flora,' then in course of publication.

Thus the results of his work among the Shropshire
coal-pits under and above ground, and on the adjacent
country, were embodied in a memoir read before the
Geological Society. The first part, " On Some of the
Faults which affect the Coal-field of Coalbrookdale,"
was read in February 1834; while the second and
principal part, on " The Geology of Coalbrookdale," was
read on two successive meetings of the Society, in
April 1836. Although not published in the 'Transac-
tions of the Geological Society' until 1838, the memoir
was in great part written when the author had just
completed his twentieth year. His friend Sir John
Evans, with whom he was on terms of brotherly
affection until the end of life, with whom indeed he
shared every joy and sorrow, remarks of this paper in
an obituary notice to the Royal Society, "It at once
established his reputation as a geologist, and it has
ever since been numbered among our British classics."

1 Dr John Lindley, Professor of Botany in University College, London ;
born 1799, died 1865.

2 John Morris, F.G.S., Professor of Geology in University College, Lon-
don ; born 1810, died 1886.

Photo by C. Esscnliigh Corke, Sevenoaks.

PROFESSOR JOHN MORRIS.

Ml. 20.] CITY LIFE. 33

Another friend,1 the writer of a biographical notice,
remarks : —

Looking at it now, it may be regarded as a model of what a
memoir should be on such a subject as the coalfield and its asso-
ciated strata. The Silurian and Carboniferous rocks, the New
Eed Sandstone, the Igneous rocks and the drifts, were all duly
described, and, what is more remarkable, considering the youth of
the author, the superficial extent of the various rocks was shown
on a map of the scale of one inch to a mile, in a manner dif-
fering in no very important particulars from the subsequently
published map of the Geological Survey. ... So highly indeed
would we speak of this work, that had the author done nothing
subsequently, we believe it would have entitled him to a per-
manent place on the roll of those geologists who have rendered
distinguished service.

In a diary which he kept for the first few months of
1832, while practically a City clerk, we are startled to
find how often his midday meal was sacrificed in order
to provide money for the purchase of philosophical
instruments and materials for chemical experiments.
This practice had become a regular system. In the
first week of January there are four days on which the
entry occurs " dined on biscuits." On the 19th we find
his dinner consisted of " oranges and biscuits." His
usual routine appears to have been at least two hours'
work before breakfast, and on his way into the City he
seldom missed calling at " Smith's," a shop where he
purchased, or had made, much of his chemical and
other apparatus. A few extracts from this diary,
touching only on his geological and chemical work,
will give some idea of its scope.

Jan. 5. — . . . Bought a lot of tubes, bottles, &c. Usual rou-
tine of business. Called at Smith's for some apparatus to explain

1 Mr H. B. Woodward, F.E.S., 'Natural Science 'for August 1896, p. 90.

C

34 DIARY. [1832.

the laws of the radiation of heat. Found E. T. and E. G-. at
home ; the latter favoured us with several songs. Remained some
time in my laboratory to prepare some apparatus ; afterwards I
played two games at draughts, &c. . . .

6. — . . . Called at York Street to order an air-pump and sex-
tant, the former second-hand. . . .

15. — . . . Arranged my blow-pipe. Went to church. Uncle
John called, . . . likewise J. Noble. I made two differential
thermometers and several other [things] before dinner. After
dinner we had reading and singing, 'both of which I avoided. I
shirked to bed at J-past 10.

21. — ... I wrote some verses, No. 6, for Maria or Louisa —
neither would accept them. Spent the evening in my rooms ;
filled the eudiometer with oxygen, and made several jars of
hydrogen, and likewise an eudiometer,1 &c.

22. — Made a siphon during the evening (had seen Dr Mitchell's2
fossils in the morning).

23.— Went to an " at home " at Miss Gordon's [school]. . . .
After supper I prepared a few jars of oxygen and hydrogen, with
which I gave a lecture on the principal characteristics ; and
likewise a few striking examples of chemical affinity. The ex-
periments went off well, and I believe pleased.

26. — Called on E. Evans, giving him two small bell-jars of my
making. E. lent me his galvanic trough. ... I remained until
12, making an eudiometer, differential thermometer, &c.

29. — . . . After dinner I made some laughing-gas at T. W.'s
earnest solicitation. It made me very obstreperous, but had
little effect upon Tom or Edward.

31. — . . . Made a gold-leaf electroscope.

Feb. 1. — I spent the evening in my rooms. . . . Burnt my
fingers badly.

1 An instrument for the volumetric measurement of gases.

2 James Mitchell, LL.D., F.G.S. ; born 1785, died in 1844. A zealous
worker on the geology of the London area, and an early friend of Prest-
wich's. Mitchell's observations on the strata and wells around London
were carefully recorded in five MS. folio volumes, and these were deposited
by Prestwich, in 1889, in the library of the Geological Society of London.
There is no doubt that Prestwich owed much to the help and encourage-
ment of Mitchell, as acknowledged by him, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. x.
p. 141.

J3T. 20.] CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS. 35

3. — . . . Called on Carey. Goniometer not yet finished.
Went to the Geological Society to see the museum ; introduced
myself to Mr Denis, who politely offered to show it to me at
any other time, but Mr Lonsdale and some other gentlemen
were then upstairs ; he likewise invited me to the general
meetings.

7. — Took my eudiometer to have it graduated ; blew
glass. . . .

18. — ... I gave a lecture (of one hour) on electricity to my
father, sisters, &c. ; succeeded pretty well ; got on as far as the
development of the two theories — audience well pleased.

°20. — ... At J-past 9 gave a lecture on electricity (1J
hour) — went on as far as the laws of distribution — managed
very well.

21. — Down at £-past 8. Eead. Mr Brooke brought me Biot's
' Geometric Analytique.' . . . Went to Oeller and Gree»n's to
have an electrical flask blown ; saw it made myself.

83. — . . . Got home at -J-past 6 ; gave them a lecture on elec-
tricity one hour long — rather tired.

March 4- — • • • Excursion from Gravesend to Northfleet ;
went round to all the cottages ; bought all the fossils we [E.
I' Alison and I] saw.

13. — Down at J-past 7. Eead mathematics. Went to the
lecture on chemistry at the London University ; asked Dr
Turner to take me to the Geological Society, which he promised
to do. . . .

14- — • . . Eead mathematics. . . . At J-past 8 went to the
Geological Society ; heard a very animated and interesting dis-
cussion on the Oolitic formations [paper read by Murchison on
the Cotteswold and Cleveland Hills]. Messrs Murchison, Cony-
beare, Sedgwick, De la Beche, Lyell, Greenough spoke ; asked Dr
Turner to propose me as a member.

%0. — Down at J-past 8. Eead ; cleaned some chalk fossils. . . .
Walked home. E. Newton was there. Made some laughing-gas —
E. I'Anson, Edward, and myself. Nearly threw E. I'A. into con-
vulsions— all of us much frightened ; had little effect on E., very
little on me and my sisters ; E. I'A. and E. Newton ran away
when I took it. Eead, and retired at J-past 11.

21. — . . . E. I'Anson studied with me at the goniometer.

36 DIARY. [1832.

88. — . . . Called at the Geological Society ; saw young Denis.1
He offered to propose me as member. Copied a section of Mur-
chison's. Bought lOd. worth of plaster of Paris. Took casts of
my sisters and E. I'Anson. Stuck to Emily's eyelashes — J an
hour coming off; read; retired at J to 12.

83. — . . . Eead. Wrote part of my ' Geology of Shropshire.'

88. — Down at J to 7. ... Bought some objects for the micro-
scope. . . . My father came ; went with him to see the double-
sighted Scotch child — very well managed and ingenious, surprised
both of us. ... At i-past 8 went to the Geological Society,
where I spent a very pleasant evening; left at J-past 11; home
after 12.

89. — . . . Found G. Grant at The Lawn. Spoilt my even-
ing ; very weary ; played at faarti with G. G. ; read ; retired
at 11.

April 4- — • • • Went to Pastourelli's, where I bought
a siphon - gauge, &c., for 2s. 6d. ; bought a map of England
for 3d. ...

5. — . . . No breakfast. Eead all day magazines, reviews, &c.
. . . Eead, microscopised. . . .

S. — . . . Down at 10. Eead as before; blew more glass.
Eead until 11 ; got through a great deal.

7. — Much better ; down at J to 9. Went to an auction of a
medical man in Conduit Street, where I bought a fine galvanic
trough for 16s., then left for fear of spending more.

9. — Down at 8 J ; read. . . . T. Turner called ; walked with
him nearly an hour to the Seven Dials, where I had an elec-
trometer made. Home at 7 ; tired. Intended to lecture on
electricity. G. Grant came — played at dcartt.

11. — Down at 8. Eead. Went to Mark Lane, then to Dr
Mitchell's, who had received the fossils from Norwich, of which
he gave me a large portion, and also some lias specimens. . . .
Intended to lecture on electricity, but E. I'A[nson] came ; spent a
pleasant evening with him; . . . retired at 11£.

14. — Down at 8j- ; read. Wrote a letter to Mr Anstie and an-

1 The only Fellow of the Geological Society of the name at this period
was Nicholas Dennys, of 4 Cambridge Terrace, Eegent's Park.

JBT. 20.] INDUSTRY AND FRUGALITY. 37

other to Mr Rose,1 to each of whom I sent about 50 or 60 chalk
fossils. My father came : he told me that Meredith had sent
me some fossils from Lyme Eegis. . . .

With the practice of rigid, and to us painful, econo-
mies, it must not be thought that young Prestwich was
parsimonious or illiberal. His nature was the very
reverse : he was generous to a fault ; and although
throughout life it was a principle with him to exercise
strict economy in his own personal expenditure, we
believe it was carried out to enable him to spend more
upon others. Deeds of unselfish kindness, involving on
his part no little self-denial — perhaps known only to
the writer — cannot be spoken of; to do so would be a
violation of his wishes. In later years we come upon a
touching letter from one who was a stranger, saying
that he had the undying gratitude of a family for his
generosity in saving one member of it from disgrace
which would have overwhelmed one and all. The cir-
cumstances were made known to Joseph Prestwich, and
although a stranger, and his income at the time circum-
scribed, he at once came forward with a sum of money
which the family was unable to provide, and which he
gave unreservedly. Acts such as these were unknown
to the world.

An example of young Prestwich's patient industry is
shown in a quarto volume of MS. in his handwriting,
giving copies of geological papers and their accompany-
ing illustrations from the ' Transactions of the Geologi-
cal Society,' the ' Magazine of Natural History/ the
' Annals of Philosophy,' and the ' Edinburgh New
Philosophical Journal.' He was thus enabled to study
memoirs by Englefield, Sedgwick, Buckland, Webster,
&c., whose writings he could not then afford to pur-

1 C. B. Rose, F.R.C.S., F.G.S., of Swaffham; born 1790, died 1872.

38 ZETETICAL SOCIETY. [1833.

chase. In the same volume are copious extracts from
Dufrenoy and Elie de Beaumont, Cuvier, Galeotti, &c.

In 1833 Prestwich established an association for
mutual aid and self-improvement named the " Zetetical
Society " l among young men of his own age, and all of
whom were his personal friends, one of their number
being [Dr] G. Owen Rees. The rules were set forth in
a small pamphlet.

According to Rule II., " The object of this Society
shall be the cultivation of scientific and literary know-
ledge, by placing at the disposal of the members a
library, museum, and apparatus ; and its proceedings
shall consist of lectures, essays, and discussions upon
all subjects save those of a theological nature." Each
member had in turn to give a lecture, or propose a
subject for discussion, under the penalty of a fine. The
society started with fifteen members ; the weekly meet-
ings were held first at " The Lawn," and afterwards
alternately at the homes of some of the other members,
until, owing to their increased numbers, rooms and a
small laboratory were taken for the Society in Surrey
Street, Strand. The list of chemical apparatus lent by
its president for the use of the members was very com-
prehensive, comprising a small French furnace, blow-
pipe, retorts, &c., and all sorts of chemical appliances
— in short it was a complete laboratory equipment. It
included a good microscope and a cabinet of minerals.
On looking over the list sent to him by the hon. secre-
tary, of some seventy items, one cannot forget the
effort, the self-denial, and the care that had brought
each piece of that laboratory equipment together.

The Zetetical Society flourished for only a few years.
Joseph Prestwich soon found that his position in the

1 The term " Zetetical " implies the direct search after knowledge.

JET. 21.] TEMPERAMENT AND CHARACTER. 39

City compelled frequent absence from London for
several weeks, and sometimes months at a time, as in
the case of Epernay, where he remained one winter.
The other members of the Society were likewise
summoned away one by one to their professional or
business avocations, and the Zetetical Society, after
its brief term of useful and improving work, was
broken up.

Its members formed an interesting group. All were
steady, earnest young men entering upon life — all
animated by the same spirit — all eager for self-
improvement. Not one, alas ! survives to tell the
tale, but old letters which come to light reveal that
their affection for their young leader was life-long, and
did not cease with the breaking up of the Society.

There is no doubt but that Joseph Prestwich was a
remarkable man, endowed with remarkable gifts. But
for that extreme diffidence, that constitutional shyness
which he had inherited from his mother, and which
prevented him from ever possessing the confidence in
his own powers necessary for every public man, he
might have come much more prominently to the front.
Although always and everywhere very popular, that
distrust in himself interfered with his career as a
public man and a speaker. This lack of self-assertion,
however, did not lessen the number of his personal
friends, for no one ever possessed a greater gift of
attracting and winning the regard, and retaining the
attachment, of those he valued and who knew him
intimately. They found in him a kindliness, or rather
a brotherliness, peculiar to himself. To comparative
strangers he appeared reserved. As Prestwich's old
friend Mr S. R Pattison justly remarked, "He was
free from assumption of any kind, and always began

40 GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. [l833.

talking on a subject with great simplicity and humility."
Perhaps the most prominent feature in his character
throughout life was his truthfulness and love of truth.
He had also a strong sense of justice. He abhorred
" the falsity of exaggeration," and although no student
was ever more fired by enthusiasm for his subject, even
when a youth his words expressed the exact sense,
justly and carefully weighed. This habit of severe
accuracy has assisted in no small measure to give to
his writings the high place which has been assigned
to them.

It was in 1833, the year of his coming of age,
that Joseph Prestwich's wish was fulfilled, and he
was elected, while Greenough was President, a Fellow
of the Geological Society of London, a fellowship that
was to last for sixty-three years.

At this date also he attained a more responsible
business position, and began to travel for his father's
firm, as we find letters addressed to him at Falmouth,
Worcester, and other towns, &c. These journeys to
all parts of the country, and often abroad, were full
of interest, and were prosecuted during a large portion
of his life, contributing in a great measure to his wide
and rapid acquisition of geological knowledge. From
his accustomed seat on the top of the coach he was
able, like William Smith in earlier days, to scan the
landscape on every side, and his trained quick eye,
like that of the " father of English geology," enabled
him at a glance to grasp the physical features of a
new district. He thoroughly enjoyed this healthy
out-door life, and the traversing of ground so often
new.

Yet there is another aspect to these journeys, and
a very pathetic one. They were very solitary ; he was

JET. 21.] BUSINESS JOURNEYS. 41

thrown upon himself, as, although always courteous
to his fellow-travellers, there were none who sympa-
thised with his tastes and with that ardent desire for
knowledge — none with whom he could hold scientific
converse. After dinner at a small table his note-books
were opened, and the evening was spent in registering
the work of the day, and in entering any fresh geologi-
cal facts, and in drawing sections. His nature was
eminently genial, and as years sped on this lack of
companionship pressed hard upon him. He had never
been talkative, and this isolated mode of life made him
more silent and more self-contained, whilst at the same
time he pined for fellowship. He rarely complained,
yet again and again during long absences he wrote
to some member of the family, reiterating that he
kept counting the days until he should again join
" the dear home circle," or be back in his " dear home."

His geology had become all-absorbing, and had grown
to be the passion of his life ; yet if on those long country
tours there had been one sympathetic soul to whom in
the evenings spent in the " commercial room " he could
have communicated new points made out, new lights
thrown on some hitherto obscure relation of the geo-
logical strata, his pleasure would have been intensified
tenfold. He was realising the truth so graphically
expressed by the veteran geologist, the Hev. Adam
Sedgwick, for whom he entertained the warmest ad-
miration and regard, that "pleasures would be with-
ered things if we could not impart them, and our joys
would be but lamplight in a dungeon if there were no
friend to rejoice with us."

In a charming; letter written in French to " mon

C5

cher ami," one of his old Paris schoolfellows at M.
Colin's, Joseph Prestwich repeats that never had he

42 NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. [l834.

been so happy in any school, and that he had often
wished to return to Paris. He confides to this friend
that although engaged in commerce he aspires to be
a geologist, and mentions a business tour in Devon
and Cornwall.

Cornwall, qui est celebre pour ses mines de cuivre et d'etain,
offre des attractions bien grandes pour le geologue et le nrine'ral-
ogiste, et je me place dans les rangs comme un humble etudiant.
Que mes vues sont change'es depuis que je t'ai vu ! j'e*tais con-
tent d'e*tudier ma vocabulaire latine et de construire des themes ;
a present je voudrais tout savoir — tout voir — tout analyser.
C'est dire beaucoup — tels sont mes desirs. Oh, si j'avais le temps
a lire et a e*tudier tout ce que je voudrais !

No words could more fitly express his fervent aspira-
tions.

It was in all probability about this date that young
Prestwich projected a plan for a Natural History
Society, the object of which was thoroughly to work
out the geology, botany, &c., of the London Basin by
the personal observations of its members. We do not
hear of the formal establishment of this Society ; but as
its members were self-elected, consisting of those who
could contribute to the knowledge of the natural history
of the country round London, and as in its beginning
there was no subscription, it is possible that there may
have been many meetings at the London Coffee- House
in St Paul's Churchyard, where the members were to
assemble until they could afford the expenses of a fixed
establishment. The scope of this "Natural-Historical
Society of the Neighbourhood of London " is somewhat
ambitious, and is given in his own handwriting. Nor-
folk and Suffolk were not included, but the boundary
line of the country to be examined was to extend from
Harwich westward along the northern extremity of

J5T. 22.] ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. 43

Essex, whence it would range " in a south-west direction
by Henley-on-Thames to near Hungerford, when, turn-
ing abruptly eastward, it bends by Guildford, Croydon,
and thence in an irregular line near Chatham and
Canterbury to the South Foreland. The reason for
adopting so large and irregular a district is that the
zoological and botanical distributions are materially
influenced by geological superposition, and that the
development of the latter would be extremely incom-
plete were the limits more restricted/'

The following extract is from a letter to an old Head-
ing schoolfellow, Mr Edward Hurry, at Bogota :—

J. Prestwich to E. Hurry.

BIRMINGHAM. Oct. 1834.

MY DEAR EDWARD, — ... I must again return you my best
thanks for your kind endeavours to procure for me such minerals
and fossils as you may meet with. The district in which you are
now situated affords few or none of these, but the sea, I should
think, would abound with a great variety of corals, shells, sea-
weeds, &c. — specimens of all of which would be highly accept-
able. That which to you appears trifling and valueless from
the circumstance of its being commonplace and abundant would
be of much interest here. No object of natural history will come
amiss.

The letter is a long one, giving news of Dr Valpy,
and reminiscences of schoolboy days at Reading.

Mr E. Hurry in reply deplored his lack of knowledge
of geology and mineralogy, and besought his old school-
fellow to put him in the way of acquiring it, adding
that he had sent to England for a book on the subject
for study. We find ten pages of large letter-paper —
a closely written document without date, beginning
" My dear Edward," which was the draft of a letter
of instruction sent to Mr Hurry at Carthagena. After

44 ADVANTAGES OF KNOWLEDGE. [1834.

a warning that he must not expect to be able to
read the difficult facts in geology until the alphabet
had been mastered, he advises young Hurry to select
one particular subject on which to exercise his observa-
tion, and suggests that he should study, for example,
the action of water, not in reference to its chemical
properties nor its stagnant state, but its powerful
mechanical action when in a state of motion. We
quote the sequel, as it may be a help and encourage-
ment to some earnest young geologist : —

"We are all endowed with reason and observation, of which it
is your duty to avail yourself to the utmost extent. Geology is
entirely a science of observation and comprehension ; accustom
yourself on all occasions to employ those talents — notice the
effects of all you witness, study their causes, and you cannot fail
to become a good geologist. And what can afford more delight
than the free use of that reason wherewith nature has endowed
us all ! What infinite pleasure results from witnessing the
powers and exercising the capabilities of your own mind ! And
above all with what ecstasy, with what gratification, with what
feelings of admiration, of gratitude, and of enthusiasm, do you
trace out the mighty works of the Deity, do you fathom their
mysteries and unravel their intricacies ! You read what must
have been His thoughts, His ideas, His intentions, when you
thus perceive the results of His wisdom and His power, for in
everything will you find intent and purpose. When thus sur-
rounded by and studying His works, how can you fail to look

"Thro5 Nature up to Nature's God" ?

This was the letter of a mere youth. Its influence on
his friend in the land of exile can never be known.

45

CHAPTER III.

1834-1849.

GEOLOGY OF COALBROOK DALE AND GAMRIE—
TERTIARY MEMOIRS.

THE early part of 1834 was spent in Ireland, and the
later spring months in Scotland. The result of the
northern journey was a paper read in 1835 before the
Geological Society, " On the Ich thy elites of Gamrie in
Banffshire," which, though written subsequently to the
Goalbrook Dale Memoir, was yet his first published
work, as it appeared in an abridged form in 1835.
This paper was supplemented by another in 1837, in
which was first noticed the occurrence of shells in the
Till at high levels and separate from raised beaches.
The two papers were published in full in 1840.

We are unable to ascertain to whom the following
letter was addressed. It is quoted merely to show
the care which the young geologist evinced in replying
to any inquiry : —

LYNN, lUh June 1835.

MY DEAR SIR, — I have to apologise for not making this com-
munication at an earlier date. I had expected that I should
have been enabled to have done so upon my return to London
last April, but I found my notes upon the subject so scanty,

46 JOURNEY TO SCOTLAND. [1835.

and my sketch of the specimen so imperfect, that I waited until
another trip to Shropshire would enable me to afford you more
minute details.

The fossil in question was found in a vertical position in a
fine-grained sandstone, associated with numerous plants, prin-
cipally of the genera Calamites and Stigmaria, lying in all posi-
tions. The stem was truncated ahout eighteen inches above the
roots, which, to the number of four, were prolonged from it to
a length of about four feet ; but as the seams of the sandstone
were continued through these roots, the lower parts of them
were separated and lost upon the removal of the specimen,
which, at the time that I saw it, had been so acted upon by
the weather that the external marking was nearly obliterated.

This sandstone bed overlies a thick deposit of shale contain-
ing ironstone, and characterised by numerous exuvise which are
totally wanting in the sandstone. In this latter, in common with
several other beds of sandstone, the larger fossils are generally
in a vertical position, traversing several divisions of the rock,
whereas the lesser specimens lie in all positions, but most fre-
quently horizontally, and in the seams of the beds. . . .
Trusting that this slight communication may be yet of some
service, I remain, my dear sir, yours sincerely,

J. PKESTWICH, Junr.

As a worker not altogether unknown, for the value
of his Coalbrook Dale paper (although not yet pub-
lished) had been at once recognised, he was present at
the meeting of the British Association in Dublin in
1835. In the same year he again made a length-
ened tour in Scotland, when an extract from a letter
posted at Inverness gives an account of a visit to
Edinburgh :—

J. Prestwick to C. Prestwich.

MY DEAREST KATE, — . . . Now I must take you back
again to Edinburgh, where I was detained much longer than
was agreeable. However, some letters of introduction, with

MT. 23.] EDINBURGH. 47

which Mr Hutton of Newcastle l kindly furnished me, were
the means of making me acquainted with several pleasant and
celebrated men. Among others I had the honour of forming
Professor Jameson's acquaintance,2 of which I hope to be able
to avail myself more upon a future visit. This time I merely
had the opportunity of spending a short half-hour with him, as
I wished to be in Edinburgh at eleven, and the doctor resides
about two miles from town. He received me very politely,
presented me with a few specimens, and expressed a hope that
I would visit him when again in Edinburgh. An interview
with Dr Eobson, secretary to the R S., enabled me to inspect
their collection of Burdiehouse [Carboniferous fossils] at their
rooms. A Mr Ehind was going to introduce me to Lord
Greenock, but he happened to be out of town. He is a great
coal-measure and ironstone geologist. I am anxious to compare
notes with him. The great analogy presented by the organic
remains of the limestone at Burdiehouse with those of the coal-
field of Shropshire made me very desirous to visit the spot,
which is distant five miles from Edinburgh. In order to find
time I walked out there with a Mr Charlton at six o'clock one
morning, arrived there before eight, and was much gratified with
the deposit and its elegant flora, still could see no proof of its
deposition in fresh and shallow water according to Dr Hibbert's
hypothesis. Many of our present geologists are too fond of
tossing up and down a few hundred square miles of country, as
though it were a carpet they were dusting : this terrestrial [crust]
is formed of no such pliable material.3

J. Prestwich to the Same. CARLISLE, uth Nov. 1835.

MY DEAREST KATE, — It is to me a source of infinite gratifi-
cation to have once more crossed the Border, with a prospect of

1 Joint author with Dr John Lindley of 'The Fossil Flora of Great
Britain.'

2 Robert Jameson, Eegius Professor of Natural History in the Univer-
sity of Edinburgh ; born 1774, died 1854.

3 The evidence of intermittent subsidence is, of course, admitted (see
Prestwich, ' Geology,' vol. ii. p. 3) ; the fresh- and shallow- water formation
of the Burdiehouse limestone is not now questioned.

48 BANFFSHIRE. [1836

a speedy return to our dear and happy home. You can scarcely,
dear Kate, appreciate all the attractions of that delightful spot.
Many and many an event which from its daily and habitual
occurrence passed unnoticed in the pleasurable m$Ue is now, by
contrast with similar scenes, but scenes differently enacted, and
with associations totally at variance, brought to my recollection
with the most vivid freshness and delight. Still, Kate, not only
are past events productive of much pleasure, but so also are
those proceedings which are hourly and constantly taking place
in my absence, and with a brief detail of which I had hoped to
have been favoured rather more frequently than I have been
latterly. ... I shall fully expect to hear from you at Liverpool.
. . . With best love to all, believe me, your very affectionate
brother, J. PRESTWICH, Jr.

Another paper on the Banffshire coast was written
after his second long tour in Scotland, and was entitled
" On some recent Elevations of the Coast of Banffshire,
and on a Deposit of Clay formerly considered to be Lias."
It was read at the Geological Society in 1837, and pub-
lished in full in 1838.

A memoir in French, which likewise was written at
an earlier date, was read in the 1837-38 Session of the
Soeiete Geologique de France, " Sur les debris de
Mammiferes terrestres, qui se trouvent dans 1'argile
plastique aux environs d'Epernay." This paper was
long remembered in Paris as having given rise to an
important discussion, in which Constant Prevost,
Deshayes, Biviere, and others took part.

A letter to his sister Kate expresses his happiness to
find himself again in his beloved France.

RENNES, July 1836, Friday Evening, 10.

At last, my dearest Kate, I am again in France: that long-
anticipated visit is now performed, and I enjoy it most intensely.
I like the country, the people, the living, and in fact I am

2ET. 24.] BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 49

inclined to be displeased with nothing. I only fear that I shall
be satiated with the continuance of enjoyment. Every moment
has its pleasure — some new scene is unfolded — some fresh
variation in costume or in manners is exhibited, or another
town is to be explored. But the very excess of my curiosity
carries with it a drawback which, though trifling on any other
occasion, is, at the present time, rather tantalising. I feel
dissatisfied if everybody else does not exhibit the same en-
thusiasm and the same earnestness in viewing and exploring
the country.

I could and would willingly at any time go without my
dinner rather than not see all that may be worth examining in
a town when we remain but two or three hours — and of course,
in order to make the most of so short a time, it would be
necessary to use some activity and despatch, or I have no
objection to rise at four in the morning for the same object. . . .

In another letter to this sister, dated from Broseley,
September 1836, he alludes to the meeting of the
British Association at Bristol, and to its very hospi-
table reception there. " All the head men of the
Association were received at private houses ; the lesser
men were of course obliged to be content with the
rascally Bristol inns. I was very well pleased to meet
with Rees on Monday morning, more especially as I
always feel myself rather solitary in so large an assembly
where I am intimate with no one."

In a rejoinder to the above letter, we quote a passage
to show the estimation in which his " den" was held by
one member of " The Lawn" household : —

C. Prestwich to J. Prestwich. THE LAWN, Sept. 23, 1836.

. . . "We have an Irish housemaid ; she is very ignorant
and a Catholic — nothing will induce her to go into your little
back room ; she does not much like arranging the breakfast room.
She has taken into her head that you dissect dead bodies, arid
that the shark's jaw is what you take them up with. I should

D

50 VISIT TO IRELAND. [1836-37.

have told you that nurse took her to the door one day, when she
saw all these things. She crossed herself, and was very glad to
get away. It is said that the housemaid never passed the door
without crossing herself. . . .

One of his earliest (Tertiary) geological expeditions
was made from Norwich in 1836, where, under the
guidance of Mr Samuel Woodward, the geologist and
antiquary, he paid his first visit to the Thorpe Crag
pits, and there obtained a fine molar of Elephas meri-
dionalis, now in the Norwich Museum.

What with geology and what with business, 1836
was indeed a busy year : but could any year of his life
be pointed to which was not busy ?

J. Prestwich to his Sister, Mrs JRussell Scott.

LIVERPOOL, Nov. 25, 1836.

MY DEAKEST ISABELLA, — . . . My letter to "The Lawn"
will probably have informed you of my proceedings in Ireland —
of my trip up the Shannon, and my visit to Ballinasloe. I thence
went to Galway. As this is the most thoroughly Catholic town
in Ireland I felt curious to see the monastic establishments, and
having an hour to spare I applied to a Father Flynn for direc-
tions. He very civilly volunteered me his guidance. We pro-
ceeded to the Presentation Convent, a fine large building on the
outskirts of the town. Its objects are religious seclusion and the
education of the poor. I was much pleased with the schoolrooms,
of which there were five, containing about five hundred girls from
six to eighteen years of age. They were clean and tidy, and are
taught reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, and needlework.
In one room the children were working patterns on net, a large
quantity of which is sent over by the Nottingham manufacturers
for that purpose. I found the nuns very obliging. They showed
and explained everything to me. Their dress somewhat resembles
that of the Sisters of Charity in Paris. There were twenty-five in
this convent ; some were young and pretty. One of them had a
fortune of £10,000. Poor girl! They all looked happy and

JST. 24-25.] BUSINESS AND SCIENCE. 51

healthy. We afterwards walked through the garden and visited
the chapel, which contained three good Italian paintings. One
presented that strange mass of incongruities so common to old
religious paintings, — St John, in the wilderness, clothed in the
skins of wild beasts, had his face decorated with moustaches and
a chin piece, and was attended by two Franciscan friars in full
costume !

We then went to the Franciscan convent — it is nearly extinct ;
there are only three old ladies there. The national school of
Galway is large, and calculated to accommodate eight hundred
boys : there were but four hundred there when I saw it. They
are taught by the monks. The books are supplied by the Board
in Dublin. From the cursory view which I took of them, they
appeared to be good and appropriate. It was curious to see boys
without shoes and stockings, and with their clothes all in rags,
answering questions in geography, mathematics, astronomy, &c. —
Believe me, my dearest Isabella, your very affectionate brother,

J. PRESTWICH, Junr.

A letter of January 2, 1837, written to him at Paris
by his sister Kate, contains the following sentence :
" Your account of your reception by Madame Colin was
really quite affecting, and must have been very gratify-
ing to you."

Very few original letters of the next few years are
preserved, with the exception of those addressed to his
brother-in-law, Mr Russell Scott, and these are not of
general interest, being on family and business affairs.
To our geologist Mr Russell Scott was the very kindest
brother : he was a man of high character, and one who
had the privilege of his friendship can only speak of him
with reverence and affection. He saw and appreciated
young Prestwich's talent, and appraised the difficulty of
his leading two lives — the commercial and the geologi-
cal— without detriment to health. Mr Scott, too, had
had business experience, as he had amassed a very con-

52 BEOREATION. [1837-38.

siderable fortune in early life. He invested a portion of
his capital in the Mark Lane firm, and thus became a
sleeping partner, which conferred on him the right of
giving his wise counsel and advice. It is impossible to
over-estimate the importance of his now life-long affec-
tion for Joseph Prestwich, who was many years his
junior.

Later on, when Prestwich had moved into Mark Lane
and acquired the habit of working at his geology far
into the hours of the night, Mr Scott, who then lived at
Gaddesdon Hoo, Hertfordshire, often wiled him away
from the City from Saturday until Monday. They
generally made a trysting-place between Mr Scott's
house and some rather distant railway station. It was
characteristic of our geologist to choose a station several
miles from the house, so that he might have more
ground to go over, and the chance of making observa-
tions in a fresh and wider field. He thus had a walk
across country to a given point where his brother-in-
law waited, the latter having put up the carriage at
some village inn. These walks were delightful to both,
and most refreshing to the City man. We find notes
written again and again by this devoted brother-in-law,
urging that it was high time for rest and a holiday,
little thinking that perhaps a holiday might mean the
closest working time of all.

Here we may observe that Joseph Prestwich delighted
in the society of children, and seemed to know by in-
stinct what pleased each child most. He had the gift
of fascinating and amusing them as no one else within
our knowledge ever had, and it was a joyous time for
the little Scotts when " Uncle Joseph " was at " the
Hoo." Sophia, the eldest, was a child of unusual
promise, with a mind cast somewhat in the same mould

MT. 25-26.] GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF FRANCE. 53

as his own — with that ardent love of knowledge, and
that intense longing to seek after and know the truth.
The following fragment of a letter, without a date,
addressed to her when a child, shows the writer's ever-
present consciousness of the Hand at the helm, and
indicated the spirit in which he worked :—

Observe, my dear Sophia, the wonders which surround you.
Study and admire every object of the natural world. In all
that you see there is beauty and harmony, and in all that you
examine order and design. There is nothing so vast and so
complicated but what you may hope to comprehend, and nothing
so insignificant but what is worthy of investigation. All has
proceeded from the same hands, and all indicate the same
wisdom and admirable adaptation. Wonderful are His works,
and perfect and unerring are His laws. Oh, should we not
be thankful that we are endowed with capacities to comprehend
His works and to study His laws, and being thus endowed with
the means, ought we not to avail ourselves of so great and happy
a privilege, humbly to explore and strive to comprehend the
wonderful works of His hands, and gratefully and earnestly
to admire their beauty and perfection?

Be assured, my dear little niece, that such objects of study
and contemplation will ever afford you the purest and most
unalloyed pleasure. . . .

In Paris, on the 8th January 1838, he had the gratifi-
cation of being elected a member of the Societe Geolo-
gique de France, on which occasion he was introduced
by two eminent members, Constant Prevost and Achille
Delesse. This brought him into contact with geolo-
gists in France who had come to the front, and hence
the foundation was laid of many lasting and delightful
friendships. His dear friends Albert Gaudry and
A. Daubree became prominent members of the French
Geological Society, likewise the lamented Edouard
Lartet — but we are anticipating — and many other dis-

54 ISLE OF ARRAN. [1839-41.

tinguished names will in due time be added to the
list.

Again we hear of his spending some time about this
date in Epernay, where he had made himself master of
the geology of the district. It was his habit to medi-
tate upon any observations on new ground, especially
where the relations or conditions of the strata were
difficult to decipher, and where he had to propound a
theory and show facts to account for his views on their
superposition. He often pondered upon some unsolved
geological problem for years, and it is possible that
during this protracted sojourn in France he was amass-
ing materials for his important paper, " Sur la Position
geologique des Sables et du Calcaire lacustre de Eilly
(Marne)," which was not given to the French Geologi-
cal Society until the session of 1852-53.

A notebook for 1840 gives the following entry :—

Excursion to Arran via Ardrossan, September 19, 1840.
British Association.

Skirted the island from north to south, Mr Murchison pointing
out the superposition of a red sand and conglomerate, which he
classes as the New Ked, but which is supposed by Jameson and
others to belong to the Upper Coal-Measures, on a series of
impure reddish limestones containing the Productus hemisphcericus
and other characteristic mountain-limestone fossils, overlain by a
thin band of coal-measures and small coal. This limestone re-
poses upon a series of beds belonging to the Old Eed Sandstone
— a quartzose conglomerate preponderating. The beds of these
formations dip northward until we arrive at Glen Sannox, where
an anticlinal line reverses the dip to the south about 26°, again
bringing in the limestones which are worked at Corrie and the
overlying red sandstones and conglomerate, which continue to
Brodick, frequently, however, traversed and much disturbed by
protruded Trap rocks. Landed at Corriegill Point to examine a
beautiful instance of the intrusion of pitchstone through the red

^JT. 27-29.] TERTIARY MEMOIRS. 55

sandstone. The pitchstone is compact, and contains a few grains
of glassy felspar. A few of the red sandstones in contact with
it are highly indurated.

This Glasgow meeting was a signal success, and its
president, Mr (afterwards Sir) Eoderick Murchison,
wrote of "the glorious day at Arran, when I lectured
to a good band of workmen with every peak of Goatfell
illlumined." Prestwich contributed no paper, nor do
we find his name specially mentioned. From what we
can glean, he had only been able to snatch one day, or
perhaps two, so as to attend the Arran excursion. He
was the reverse of self-assertive, and his habitual diffi-
dence often kept him in the background, where, never-
theless, the busy brain-work went on, and where he
pondered and observed. Memoirs were soon to eman-
ate from his pen which were to give him a European
reputation.

Onward during several years he was occupied in
following up those researches in England and France,
which he embodied in the well-known series of Tertiary
papers. Of these Sir John Evans remarks : 1 " He not
only reduced the little-known English Tertiaries into
proper system (establishing the separate existence of
certain local beds to which he gave the name of the
Thanet Sands, proving the synchronism of the Reading
beds with those of Woolwich, and fixing the true posi-
tion of the London Clay with respect to the Hampshire
basin), but he succeeded in correlating the Tertiary beds
of England, France, and Belgium in such a manner
that his classification was accepted by most geologists,
and has stood the test of time."

In 1840 and 1841 Prestwich resided at 10 Devon-

1 Obituary Notice to the Eoyal Society, vol. lx., 1896, p. xiii.

56 NOTE-BOOKS. [1842-46.

shire Street, Portland Place, which was then the family
home. Early in 1842, when the scope of his geological
work had opened out, and when several important
memoirs were in contemplation, his business responsi-
bilities became heavier. His father had always been
speculative, and it was decided, as being best for the
interests of the firm, that Joseph Prestwich, senior,
should withdraw, and that our geologist should take
the head of affairs. Aided by a partner, he agreed to
this arrangement. Thus henceforward business journeys
were at an end, and travellers were appointed in his
place. But this increased responsibility did not stem
the tide of geological papers, which flowed on apace.
His business residence in 1843 was 20 Mark Lane, and
here he continued until 1855.

His note-books 1840-1850 show the extraordinary
industry with which he investigated the Tertiary
deposits in every locality of our southern and eastern
counties, in order to make out their detailed structure
and origin, and to compare and correlate , them with
the foreign Tertiaries. He literally went over every
acre of ground. The index in one note-book gives 133
places, the observations on each locality being frequently
illustrated by sections. An entry of quite a different
character in a note-book for 1846 may be quoted, as it
throws light on his frugal mode of life. " 1846, 'The
Three Crowns,' at Walton near Sarum — a capital house,
excellent ale, home-brewed. Dinner off a loin of South
Down mutton, household bread, 1 pint ale, and butter
— 9d. Conscience forbid, so paid Is. Id."

His habits, in short, were of the simplest. He never
indulged in smoking, but this probably arose from a
dislike to tobacco in any form. He scarcely ever rode
on horseback, preferring to go to his sections every-

JET. 30-34.] SHAKESPEARE'S CLIFF. 57

where on foot ; and when in later years he took the
reins in driving a pony-carriage, he was so much en-
grossed with the very roadside banks that the pony
ran up hill and down hill as it chose, and his companion
felt that these drives were scarcely safe.

While out on field-work, letters from his mother
attest her constant solicitude about his health, and
her anxiety lest he should take unduly long walks or
over-tax his strength. It is not surprising that he was
an inveterate walker, as he was lithe and spare, light of
step, with little weight to carry. It goes without say-
ing that he was an expert climber : he scrambled over
cliffs and rocks with a nerve which was never shaken
but on one memorable occasion, to which he scarcely
cared to refer. He made the ascent — and we presume
that it was about this date — of the sea-face of Shake-
speare's Cliff, yet never spoke of it without a shudder.
Situated about a mile from Dover, it rises to a height
of 340 feet, and, as is well known, presents a sheer wall
of chalk to the sea. He was overtaken by the tide,
when unaided and alone he began the ascent of the
cliff. He had climbed up half-way, when he felt un-
able to go a step farther. There was bare foothold, and
retreat was impossible. It was the most perilous moment
of his life. He made a desperate effort, and we can
imagine the slim tapering fingers so curiously delicate
grasping any and every projection. After several awful
minutes, the summit was reached, where during half an
hour he lay on his back on the grass, unable to move.
It is needless to say that this experience was never
repeated.

During the presidency of Sir R. I. Murchison in
1846 he was elected a member of the Council of
the Geological Society, when the veterans Sedgwick,

58 ISLE OF WIGHT. [1846-47.

Buckland, Fitton, De la Beche, Lyell, and others, were
his associates.

Meanwhile Mr and Mrs Russell Scott had moved
to Summer Hill, near Bath, where Prestwich on his
flying visits made good use of his time in studying the
features of that neighbourhood.

The geology of the northern portions of the Isle of
Wight had a special attraction for him, and year after
year repeated visits were made by him to unravel
the structure of the district. In 1846 he read a
paper at the Geological Society, " On the Tertiary or
Supracretaceous Formations of the Isle of Wight, as
exhibited in the Sections at Alum Bay and White
Cliff Bay." In this he showed more certainly than
had been done before that the elevation of the chalk
ridge was subsequent to the deposition of the Headon
Hill series, and he pointed out the connection between
the lower Eocene beds and those of Bognor. In
the same year he wrote a joint paper with his old
friend Professor John Morris, " On the Wealden Strata
exposed by the Tunbridge Wells Kail way." Both of
these papers appeared in the Geological Society's
Journal, vol. ii., 1846. He also gave a notice to the
British Association Meeting at Southampton that year,
" On the Occurrence of Cypris in a part of the Tertiary
Freshwater Strata of the Isle of Wight."

Early in 1847, the Palseontographical Society had
its rise, Joseph Prestwich having been one of its
original members. From Dr H. Woodward's1 inter-
esting account of its foundation and progress we
quote the following passages :—

The origin was mainly due to the prior issue of Sowerby's

1 Geol. Mag., p. 385, September 1896.

JST. 34-35.] PAL^EONTOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY. 59

' Mineral Conchology/ of which the first part appeared in June
1812, and was followed by other parts for over thirty years. The
portions of this work were brought out slowly and irregularly,
and rarely illustrated more than ten species at a time. During
the publication of this contribution to geological science, an asso-
ciation was formed (about the year 1836), called "The London
Clay Club," the members of which were enthusiastic collectors
of shells of the Tertiary deposits in the neighbourhood of the
Metropolis. At one of the meetings of the club, about the year
1845, the late Dr (then Mr) J. S. Bowerbank suggested that as
the ' Mineral Conchology/ at its then rate of issue, could not
possibly depict all the British fossils within a moderate period,
it would be well to have recourse to a new method. . . . The
idea was favourably received ; Mr Sowerby was asked to under-
take the copperplate engravings, and many geologists living in
different parts of the country were communicated with. In the
furtherance of this object Mr Bowerbank laboured with much
zeal and energy.

It is also stated that at a meeting held at the
apartments of the Geological Society, Somerset House,
on March 23, 1847, with Sir Henry De la Beche in
the chair, it was resolved that a society should be con-
stituted, the object of which should be "to figure and
describe, as completely as possible, a stratigraphical
series of British fossils." A further light is thrown on
the foundation of the Palseontographical Society, from
a paragraph in the fascinating ' Memoir of Edward
Forbes,' l in which it appears that the reading of a
paper by Joseph Prestwich hastened the foundation of
a projected Tertiary Publishing Society.

At a meeting of the Geological Society (February 3, 1847) a
discussion ensued upon a paper by Mr Prestwich on the " Ter-
tiaries of the London and Hampshire Basins." Forbes, in the
course of his speech, remarked with regret how much information

1 By George Wilson, M.D., and Sir Archibald Geikie, p. 412.

60 VISIT TO GERMANY. [1847.

on this subject lay scattered in different books and periodicals.
Mr Bowerbank followed, and, on the spur of the moment, sug-
gested the establishment of a Tertiary Publishing Society. The
idea immediately found favour, and afterwards, at tea downstairs,
it was expanded into a proposition to found a society for pub-
lishing plates of fossils, not from the Tertiary deposits only, but
from all the British formations. This was the origin of the
Palseontographical Society.

In the autumn of this year Mr Russell Scott urged
our geologist, who was fagged and worn, to accompany
him to a water-cure establishment in Germany, and try
a treatment which Mr Scott had been ordered. It
proved of the utmost benefit to the latter, but the over-
worked City man was so much reduced by the diet and
treatment that he never quite recovered from their
effects. Extracts from one or two letters from Boppart
show, however, that he had regained his spirits, which
were no longer affected by his health : —

J. Prestwich to Mrs Russell Scott. MARIENBERG, near BOPPART,

29th August 1847.

Here we are, my dearest Isabella, installed in our respective
dormitories, with visions of the successive operations in wet sheets,
sitzes, £c., which are to commence at five to-morrow morning. I
presume I am in the cell of some former Sister Theresa, and I
suspect with very little addition to the original simplicity of
furniture. . . . The view from the window is most beautiful.
Below me is the terrace in front of the house, beyond that
orchards sloping down to the old walls of Boppart, high and
ruinous, and now serving the peaceful part of supporting vines
and peach-trees. Over them appear the high-pitched slate roofs
and gable -ends of the picturesque old town, with its quaint
towers and fine old church in the Early French style. Over the
town I could catch a glimpse of the Ehine, on the other side of
which rise abrupt vine -clad hills, whilst beyond and behind
Boppart are delicious plantations of all sorts of fruit-trees, sur-
rounded by high hills covered with wood, with here and there a

MT. 35.] BOPPART. 61

beautiful ravine running through them. It is at the entrance to
one of these ravines that this house stands — at a slight elevation
above one end of the town, and about a quarter-mile distant from
the river. This situation is one of the finest you can conceive —
the establishment upon a scale of size, elegance, and complete-
ness such as could not well be surpassed (I am now speaking of
it as a water-cure establishment only). The house was formerly
a convent with 150 bedrooms. . . . We have commenced opera-
tions. We had our first meal here (supper), and a melancholy
piece of business it was, I can assure you, when the prospect of
its continuance for three or four weeks is considered. My im-
pression is that it is the worst part of the process. I had to
get through as well as I could one round of coarse black bread
and a soup-plate fall of sour milk and two tumblers of cold
water, and I can assure you that I think my performance did me
credit. The sour milk is really very nasty. Mr Scott was let
off easier, as he is not recommended sour milk, dry bread, and
water, but was allowed the luxury of " white bread and butter,"
compote depommes, and new milk. Happy man ! I must tell you
how he puzzled the doctor to-day, shortly after our arrival. We
were speaking of the weather, which, the doctor informed us, has
been very wet for a few days past — so much so that in two days
19 millimetres of rain had fallen. To this mode of receiving
the information Mr Scott immediately dissented, and suggested
that the doctor should solve the problem into legitimate inches
and tenths of inches. The doctor was floored. As for me, I
shall become as expert a reckoner as the country boy. . . . Give
my love to Civil, and kisses to all the dear children. — Your affec-
tionate brother, Jos. PRESTWICH.

Another Boppart letter, addressed to his mother,
gives a comical account of the process of tubbing and
packing in wet sheets. Again, later, he writes to his
sister, Mrs Russell Scott :—

MAEIENBERG, Sept. 18, 1847.

MY DEAREST ISABELLA, — Your very welcome letter of the 8th
inst. reached me yesterday. ... The effects of the cure appear tojbe
very variable. ... On me the effects appear to have reached their

62 WATER-CURE. [1847.

maximum on the second day. Since then I perceive no difference
in my health or feelings. In fact, after the first eight days I
did not feel quite so well, and I found myself 1J Ib. lighter — a
loss in weight I could ill afford. Nevertheless, I believe I shall
be benefited by the treatment, and trust that its ultimate effect
will be more apparent than that of which I am at present con-
scious. Of course I follow the rules carefully. It gives me,
however, very great pleasure to say that on Mr Scott the favour-
able effects of the cure are most apparent. He will inform you
of his general feelings and symptoms; I will tell you of his
visible condition and actual deeds. Of our daily walks you are
doubtlessly informed. He now takes them without fatigue and
with much regularity. Last week we took a walk of twenty
miles. Yesterday (Sunday) we walked from Braubach to Ems
and thence to Stolzenfels. The day was very hot and the dis-
tance about seventeen to eighteen miles, and yet this morning
no fatigue or weariness is perceptible. Even his sore feet, which
caused him to limp in a very suspicious manner through the
ill -paved town of Lahnstein, cause him no uneasiness to-day.
The fact is, his gait through that respectable town was anything
but decorous — being far from steady, and such as would cause
strong suspicions of our water-diet at Ems. The paving-stones
being very irregular — some small, others large, some flat, others
pointed, his attention was directed to his safe transit from one
large flat stone to another — a proceeding not quite compatible
with the straight course, or steadiness of movement, but per-
formed with much proper gravity of purpose.

Having now stated your husband's powers of endurance, I will
now mention his powers of consumption. I am fond of facts :
they illustrate briefly and to the point. I will therefore give you
a practical illustration of the subject, taken at a late period and
indiscriminately. It shall be our dinner yesterday at Ems.
We breakfasted as usual at 8 A.M. At one we dined. Primo, A
plate of consommd au riz. 2ndly, I saw his plate well covered
with bouilli and potatoes (here I considered he stood no chance
for the more recherM meats at the end of the dinner, and so
intimated to him). 3rdly, A cotelette pande (not small), with a
spoonful of cauliflower and another of potatoes. 4thly, Frican-
deau de veau au purtfe de pommes de terre (of this all recollection

JBT. 35.] BAGSHOT SANDS. 63

was subsequently lost). 5thly, A leg of a poulet a la jardiniere
(this was considered trifling with one's appetite). 6thly, Ponding
au biscuit sauce d'abricots (admitted to be good, and eaten accord-
ingly). 7thly, Filet de chevreuil pique (excellent, but considered
to be very tardily served). Sthly, Gateau de pommes. 9thly,
Dessert of grapes — accompaniments, four petits pains and three
tumblers of water. Now you will, I am sure, my dear sister,
be as much pleased with your husband's performance as I was,
indicating, as I believe it does, an excellent state of health.
My own satisfaction I expressed half an hour after dinner, and
what do you think ? Why, he doubted whether he had really
made a good dinner. He thought he could eat some more. In
fact he seemed to consider my opinion as rather unreasonable.
I must tell you, however, that my own proceedings were in keep-
ing with his, with the exception of a limitation in the soup, the
bouilli, the vegetables, and the bread. . . .

I regret much I have not my calotype with me. What a
picture for the children — their papa packed ! Adieu, my dearest
Isabella. My best love to my mother ; kisses to the dear children.
— Your affectionate brother, Jos. PRESTWICH, Jr.

In 1847 two important memoirs appeared, both of
which were published in the ' Geological Society Journal/
vol. iii., for 1847. One was " On the Main Points of
Structure and the Probable Age of the Bagshot Sands,
and on their presumed equivalents in Hampshire and
France," after the discussion on which the Palseon-
tographical Society was formed. In this paper the
author pointed out the immediate superposition of the
Bagshot Sands on the London Clay, and their division
into three series, of which the central one was syn-
chronous with the Bracklesham beds and the Calcaire
Grossier. The other was also one of his early correl-
ation papers, " On the Probable Age of the London
Clay, and its Relations to the Hampshire and Paris
Tertiary Systems," in which he showed that the previ-
ously received opinion of the age of the clays of Sheppey,

64 WILLIAM LONSDALE. [1847-48.

Barton, &c., was wrong, and that instead of being of the
age of the Calcaire Grassier, they were of older date.

An interesting letter to Mr W. Lonsdale, formerly
the esteemed Curator and Librarian of the Geological
Society, evidently refers to those two papers : —

20 MARK LANE, LONDON, 21st Dec. 1847.

MY DEAR SIR, — You may probably not recollect the circum-
stance of my bringing you, in the year 1839, a paper on some
detached portions of the Tertiary series of the neighbourhood
of London. The facts were incomplete, and did not possess
much novelty. After reading the paper, you recommended me
not to present it to the Society at that time, and suggested a
further examination of the ground. At the same time you
expressed a regret that the English Tertiaries had not met
with the attention which the French Tertiaries had.

With a full conviction of the correctness of your opinion,
I looked further into the state of our knowledge respecting the
English Tertiaries, and endeavoured to make myself better
acquainted with their structure. From 1839 to the present
date I have continued without interruption at my limited leisure
moments the work which I then thought would require but
a few weeks, and have still, I find, much to do. On portions
of the subject I have, after a careful examination of the district,
been led to form different views [from] those held generally,
and these I have now in 1847 communicated to the Geological
Society. It gives me now, I can assure you, much pleasure to
hand you for your kind acceptance a copy of my papers pub-
lished in the last number of the Journal. If there is any merit
in them, to you in a great measure do I attribute such a result.
It was at your suggestion that I proceeded in the work, and it
has been the cautious and philosophical spirit of careful in-
vestigation and comparison of facts which I so frequently
experienced in you that has helped to guide me through it.
With my best and sincere wishes for your health and welfare,
and with a grateful recollection of your frequent kind advice
and assistance in many a geological difficulty, I remain, my dear
sir, very sincerely yours, J. PRESTWICH, Jr.

JET. 35-36.] GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY CLUB. 65

A few years previously Mr Lonsdale had resigned
office on account of his health ; but the same happy
relations continued and were ever maintained between
him and Joseph Prestwich. In a farewell note of
November 1842, written with "such expressions of
friendly good-bye as a note can convey," Mr Lonsdale
fervently wished that our geologist would be long
spared for the sake of his friends and for the progress
of science, and that every success would attend him
through life. Letters from this valued friend in after
years, on to 1861, testify to the pleasure it gave him
to receive occasional geological papers. His acknow-
ledgment of these "acceptable tokens of remembrance "
are given in grateful words.

William Lonsdale was unquestionably one of the
old masters of geology. His memoir " On the Oolite
District of Bath " is one of the geological classics :
moreover, as remarked by Prestwich, and acknow-
ledged by others, his studies of fossil corals " led to
the establishment of the Devonian System." It fell
to the lot of Prestwich, while he was President of
the Geological Society, to record the death of his old
friend ; and this he did in affectionate and touching
terms. Lonsdale was born in 1794, and died in 1871.

In 1848 Prestwich was elected a member of the
Geological Society Club, a private dining club which
was founded on November 5, 1824, by Greenough,
Warburton, Buckland, Fitton, Lyell, and twenty-six
other Fellows of the Geological Society.

A letter of 4th January 1849 was in reply to Mr
Hussell Scott, who wished to know on scientific grounds
the reasons for and against trees being planted near
houses. Prestwich begins by saying that he had never
paid the subject more than general consideration, yet

E

66 WOLLASTON MEDAL. [l849.

he covers more than seven closely written pages of
foolscap describing the functions of trees and foliage
in purifying the atmosphere. He dwells on the won-
derful part which leaves perform in decomposing the
excess of carbonic acid gas and setting free its oxygen.
The minute care and detail shown in this letter char-
acterised all that he ever undertook.

In 1849, while Sir Henry De la Beche was President,
Joseph Prestwich was awarded the Wollaston Medal
of the Geological Society for his researches in the
coal district of Coalbrook Dale, and for those subse-
quently carried on in the Tertiary Districts of Lon-
don and Hampshire. The President emphasised this
honour by remarking that he was aware that for these
geological researches the time which the recipient of
the medal had at his disposal could " only be snatched
at intervals from the cares of commercial life." We
cannot do better than quote the reply : it summarises
in happy terms the benefits derived from a study of
his science. After expressing his grateful acknow-
ledgments, the medallist proceeded to say-
It is true that I entered upon this field as a student and for
relaxation, but the interest and difficulties of the subject speedily
induced me to take it up with more earnestness and determina-
tion, and eventually led me to extend the inquiry over an area
which I, at first, never contemplated.

The Tertiary geology of the neighbourhood of London may be
wanting in beauty of stratigraphical exhibition and in perfect
preservation of organic types, but in many of the higher ques-
tions of pure geology, — in clear evidence of remarkable physical
changes, in curious and diversified palseontological data, however
defaced the inscriptions, which is after all but a secondary point,
— few departments of geology offer, I think, greater attractions.

The pleasure I have derived from the study of the remarkable
phenomena which have come before rae in the course of the in-

JOSEPH PRESTWICH.

MT. 37.] WOLLASTON MEDAL. 67

vestigation, has far outbalanced the few obstacles I have had to
contend against. I, in fact, feel deeply indebted to geology, as a
source of healthful recreation, as an inestimable relief and ab-
straction in due season from the cares frequently attendant upon
the active duties of life, for its kindly and valued associations,
and above all for the high communing into which it constantly
brings us in the contemplation of some of the most beautiful and
wonderful works of the creation.

To have received this, the highest award of the
Geological Society, when he was not quite thirty-seven
years of age, was a remarkable testimony to the value
of the work which Prestwich had then achieved.

In the memoir of Sir Andrew Ramsay1 an incident
is mentioned connected with the award of the medal.

Ramsay's account of this anniversary meeting was
as follows : " Sir H.'s speechifying day — the Geological
Anniversary. Prestwich was awarded the Wollaston
Medal. In rising to present it, Sir H. upset two large
oil-lamps that stood on the table before him, and made
a prodigious smash. All the house laughed, and poor
P. was a trifle discomposed. He has a glorious head."

Dr Owen Rees sent his congratulations in a humor-
ous note : —

6r. Owen Eees to J. Prestwich.

59 GUILDFORD STREET, March 10, 1849.

MY DEAR JOSEPH, — I heard just now from my friend Waring-
ton Smyth that the Geological Society had awarded the Wollaston
Medal to you.

Firstly, allow me to express my great disgust at your villainy
in not informing me yourself, as you have thus postponed a great
pleasure to me, who, notwithstanding your numerous bad quali-
ties, [am] absurd enough to regard you with some slight amount
of esteem.

Secondly, allow me to express a conviction — a heartfelt and

1 By Sir Archibald Geikie, F.R.S., p. 144.

68 STUDIES OF THE DRIFT. [l849.

honest one — that the Society never did themselves more justice
than in this award ; and thirdly, I must request you to believe
that I am sincerely rejoiced at your well-deserved success. Don't
be proud — because I consider you enjoyed great advantages in
geologising with me. You surely recollect the varied and pro-
found discoveries, the great principles of action and thought for
the discovery of truth, which I so eloquently poured into your
ears, and to all of which I mean to allude whenever your name
is mentioned. I don't mean to let pass so good an opportunity
for a puff. Believe me in all sincerity and seriousness most joy-
ful at your honours so nobly acquired, and ever, dear Joseph,
your sincere friend, G. OWEN EEES.

The next two letters are in reply to inquiries from
Sir Charles Lyell :—

J. Prestwich to Sir Charles Lyell. LONDON, 1st August 1849.

MY DEAK SIR, — I am hardly able to venture an opinion upon the
subject of your inquiry. For some years past I have kept myself
so exclusively within the limits of the Tertiaries, that I fear I
am not yet in possession of facts sufficient to enable me to offer
you an opinion of much value. I have, however, this summer
made several excursions into the Wealden, and only yesterday
returned from a short visit to Mr Austen, with whom I ex-
amined part of the country he described. In my observations
on the Drift period I have taken Essex as my base, for I have
there found the characters of the different deposits by far the
best defined.

From this as a centre I have worked over the district to the
north as far as the coast of Norfolk, to the west to Devizes,
eastward to the Channel, and am now proceeding over the
ground southward, for I feel that the phenomena, although pre-
senting great variety and infinite modifications, must be viewed
in connection over larger areas.

I quite agree with you that in the Eocene period, prior to the
formation of the London Clay, shallow seas prevailed over a large
portion of our Tertiary area ; for we have distinct and positive
evidence of debouchure of rivers, of the formation of shingle banks,

MS. 37.] DENUDATION OF THE WEALD. 69

and of the existence of coast -lines, in the fluviatile beds of
Woolwich, Upnor, &c., in the banks of round flint pebbles of the
hills from Croydon to Kochester, and in the presence of rocks
bored by the Pholas in parts of Kent, Essex, and Middlesex.
Yet I should hesitate in placing the then dry land in the position
of the present Wealden, although it is probable that a large
eastern portion of this district may have been dry land. But
the system of hills and valleys is so uniform through the Wealden,
and, I think, so evidently the result of one system of forces, that
no partial or disconnected actions could possiby have produced
so harmonious a result.

I fully admit the force of your observations respecting the
obliteration of the older denudation by others of more recent
occurrence, and that there is every probability that some portions
of the Cretaceous (and possibly the Wealden) rocks were above
the sea during the Eocene period; but, nevertheless, I cannot
help considering the entire present surface of the Wealden as
resulting from causes of comparatively recent date, subsequent
even to the period of the Great Northern Clay Drift. I cannot
separate the denudation of the Wealden from the denudation of
the valley of the Thames and all the surrounding districts, yet
there are some strong natural historical facts to militate against
this view, and my acquaintance with the district is not yet
sufficient to allow me to form a well-considered opinion. With
the country around London I am better acquainted, and hope in
the course of the next session to have the pleasure of submitting
to you some papers on this subject. I have had them in hand
some time, but have hesitated to bring them forward until my
observations were much more extended. In the Tertiary district
the Drift must, I think, be separated by four or five (may be even
more) well-marked divisions, part of them older than the Great
Northern Clay Drift, and independent of the present configura-
tion of the land, and part of them of date subsequent to the
denudation of the existing valleys. Thus I am rather inclined
to the opinion that the commencement of the Drift period cannot
be placed farther back than of Post-Pliocene age, and that the
denudation of the Wealden and the excavation of all the systems
of valleys of the south-east of England resulted from the opera-
tion of forces acting simultaneously throughout this area during

70 LONDON CLAY. [1849.

this Drift period. At the same time, I hazard this opinion in its
extension to the Wealden with considerable doubt, although I
have reason to hope that with regard to the other districts it
will be found fairly grounded. I do not know whether in this
short explanation I have made myself clear, or whether I have
entered at sufficient length on the points you wish. In any case,
I shall be most happy to communicate to you any other facts I
may be in possession of, or to enter more fully into any of my
views requiring explanation ; and believe me to remain, my dear
sir, very sincerely yours, J. PRESTWICH.

To the Same. LONDON, 20th August 1849.

MY DEAR SIR, — I had written the enclosed letter on the night
of the 31st July, when on the 1st August I received your second
letter with further inquiries respecting the Drift period. I post-
poned, therefore, sending it until I had again considered the
subject, and seen more of the district in question.

Since the publication of my papers on the London Clay and
Bagshot Beds, I have only communicated to the Society short
papers on isolated facts, and have not therefore gone again into
the general views of subsidence and elevation affecting large
areas and requiring lengthened observation. This subject I am
about to resume in a paper on the beds between the London
Clay and the Chalk, as well as in a paper on the Diluvial period.
"With regard to ground where the many hundred feet of London
Clay and overlying beds were derived, I yet feel at a loss to form
an opinion. I have thought much about it, and have sought in
vain for any transported rock specimens in the body of the beds
to show their origin. I have only one such specimen from the
London Clay, and that is not very distinct. It is, at all events,
some old and distant rock. The clays of Sheppey indicate the
proximity of land on some point, I think, southward of that island.

In the beds below the London Clay the evidence is, however,
stronger and clearer. The fluviatile beds of Upnor, Woolwich,
and Lewisham, and of Guildford appear evidently to have been
local things — small rivers, and flowing apparently from a land
on the south, as the deposits do not seem to have extended
themselves far from the then existing shore, and they are lost

JET. 37.] LOWER TERTIARY STRATA. 71

in the other strata as they travel northward. On no part of the
north side of the London Tertiaries am I aware that fluviatile
beds have been found. At the period just before the London
Clay commenced shallow seas and lines of coast are indicated,
both by these river-deposits, and by the occurrence at several
places of rocks bored by the Pholas. These south-coast rivers
would certainly seem to have flowed over land now occupied by
the area of the Wealden, but whether the chalk then covered it
almost to the exclusion of the older beds or not it is difficult to
say. I am rather inclined to look to the chalk for the supply of
the greater part of the beds below the London Clay, but yet not
to this entirely. The London Clay is, I think, derived from
another quarter, and a more distant one. The first deposited
Tertiary bed was broken up, and its fragments scattered in some
of the beds but little younger; and, again, the London Clay, I
believe, swept over and denuded Tertiary beds older than itself,
for [to] this action only can I attribute the number of small black
flint pebbles thinly dispersed at places in the beds of the London
Clay. These pebbles, I believe, come from the shingle beds below
the London Clay, but whence they were originally derived it is
more difficult to say — probably, I think, from upper denuded
beds of chalk. This is a point I am looking to at present. The
movement which upset the Tertiaries of the Isle of Wight I
think long anterior to the denudation of the Weald as it' now
exists; yet may it not be quite possible that the elevation of
the Weald existed before this period, and that the elevation and
denudation were independent of each other ?

The amount of vertical subsidence in the Isle of Wight
between the Chalk and the first appearance of land above
the waters must, I think, have been nearly 2000 feet — and
that an uninterrupted, tranquil, and noiseless action. (Never-
theless I believe in paroxysms.) The green-coated flints next
the Chalk I quite agree with you in attributing to a large and
extensive destruction of the Chalk. This was the commencing
scene of our English Tertiaries. The plants of Alum Bay
and Bournemouth imply no doubt the contiguity of dry land,
but still probably not a very near one, and an open sea, whilst
the fresh-water Eocenes [Oligocene] indicate a closing up of the
seas and the extension near at hand of fresh water.

72 METROPOLITAN DRAINAGE. [l849.

D'Archiac, in his ' Histoire des Progres de la Geologic/ reviews
the subject, but does not go very fully into it, nor am I aware
that any of the French geologists have more than alluded to it
briefly, excepting, however, M. D'Archiac, who has well and
frequently discussed it in several of his works. — I remain, my
dear sir, yours very truly, J. PRESTWICH.

With reference to the range and thickness of the
local Tertiaries, the following is the draft of a letter
on the Metropolitan- Main Drainage, addressed to Sir
Henry De la Beche : —

20 MARK LANE, Augt. 1849.

MY DEAR SIR HENRY, — In the report of the meeting of the
Commissioners of July last several points were raised connected
with the geology of part of the neighbourhood of London,
especially with that portion of it extending eastward from
St Paul's to the marshes opposite Woolwich. The subject was
discussed in connection with the question of Mr Phillips's tunnel
scheme, on which it has no doubt an important bearing. As
considerable doubt seemed to exist as to the extent of the range
of the London Clay and its depth through Eastern London,
and also as to the nature of the beds between the London
Clay and the Chalk, I venture to take the liberty of communi-
cating the few facts I am in possession of connected with the
geology of the district. As I believe a series of borings is
in the course of execution, the observations may probably be
of no use, and it will be unnecessary to bring them forward.
If, however, they should tend to throw light upon any one
doubtful point, it will give me much pleasure, and I beg you
will make any use of them you think fit.

The consideration of t^his question geologically has led me
to examine with some attention the various plans proposed
for the more efficient drainage of London, and at the risk of
being probably thought by you very presumptuous in venturing
to give an opinion upon such a subject, I have in paper "B"
expressed some difficulties I cannot but foresee in Mr Phillips's
plan, and have given a sketch of a plan which might possibly
obviate some of them. I may be all wrong — if so, burn the

MT. 37.] TERTIARY MEMOIRS. 73

papers ; if not, I shall be happy to offer any further explanation.
I should never have ventured to have submitted this to you
unless a gentleman who has had great experience in sewers
had intimated to me that he did not consider my plan more
impracticable than the others, and advised me to lay it before
the court. May I claim your kind services in taking charge
of these two papers, and believe me to remain. . . .

In connection with this subject, Joseph Prestwich
prepared a " Geological Map of the Estuary of the
Thames for the Referees of the Main Drainage of the
Metropolis." It was printed by order of the House
of Commons, 4th February 1858.

Two more memoirs were in 1849 given to the world,
both through the channel of the Geological Society—
namely, one " On the Position and general Characters
of the Strata exhibited in the Coast Section from
Christchurch Harbour to Poole Harbour " ; the other
" On some Fossiliferous Beds overlying the Red Crag
at Chillesford near Orford, Suffolk," in which latter
he showed the existence at Chillesford of a peculiar
Arctic group of fossils in undisturbed beds above the
Red Crag. The excursion to the Crag district was
made in company with Godwin-Austen, Morris, and
Alfred Tylor.

During the forties there had been great intellectual
activity, yet if we compare his published work with
that in the decade of years to follow, it will be seen
that it had not reached its maximum.

On August 7th Prestwich had paid a visit to his
old friend Mr Wickham Flower l at Croydon, and
a week later he was at Hastings, exploring Fairlight

1 John Wickham Flower ; born 1807, died 1873 : best known for his
studies of the deposits yielding palaeolithic implements near Brandon and
Thetford.

74 GEOLOGICAL EXCURSIONS. [1849.

Hill and the structure of the surrounding country,
with Dr Fitton, the veteran geologist. On September
7th, Professor Morris accompanied him to New Lewis-
ham, where they were fully occupied with sections
and notes, and on the 10th October Mr I'Anson was
his companion on geological work from Marlborough
through Man ton to the Valley of Rocks (Devil's Den).
Early in November Professor Morris was again with
him when they proceeded to Hertford, — this excursion
being only one of very many made to that locality.
In short, the record in the 1849 not e-book of the
field-work done after the 7th August is extraordinary.
The districts round Brighton, Epsom, Leatherhead,
Stamford Hill, Sutton, Horsham, Esher, Basingstoke,
Winchester, and Wimborne, were explored, and sec-
tions were noted at these as well as at many other
localities too numerous to catalogue.

75

CHAPTER IV.

1849-1858.

EASTER EXCURSIONS — ' THE WATER-BEARING STRATA '-
' THE GROUND BENEATH US ' — FURTHER TERTIARY
MEMOIRS.

FOR several years Prestwich had been in the habit of
making a short excursion into the country at Easter,
when he was accompanied by two or three geological
friends. To him these expeditions were most bene-
ficial : he was fagged by the end of the winter, and
invariably felt refreshed by the change of air and
scene. He delighted in geologising and exploring in
the society of personal friends ; and as time went on,
these Easter parties became very popular, and were
usually composed of four or five " brethren of the ham-
mer"; Prestwich, from his knowledge of the ground,
being director and keeper of the common purse. It
soon became known that to be one of Prestwich's
Easter party was a very good thing indeed, and those
hard workers who joined it were like so many happy
school-boys out for a holiday. Mention is made in a
letter to his old friend Mr W. Cunnington of one of
these expeditions.

76 DEATH OF HIS MOTHER. [1850.

J. Prestwich to W. Cunnington. LONDON, 25th March 1850.

DEAR CUNNINGTON, — A party of vagrant geologists will alight
on Friday morning next, somewhere on the Chalk Downs south
of the Farringdon Eoad Station. On Friday night they will
probably sleep at Farringdon ; on Saturday at Swindon. The
party will consist of Austen, Sharpe, Prof. E. Forbes, Mcol (?),
Tylor, Morris (? ?), and myself. Can you manage to join us ? It
would give me much pleasure to see you. I expect we shall
do some good work and examine a considerable tract of country,
as we purpose walking about twenty miles per day. I intend
to try to get them (or part of them) as far as Devizes. If so,
we shall make a descent then on Sunday night or early on
Monday morning, so as to meet with you at home on Monday
as a likely day. Your collection is one which a man of the
Greensand as Austen ought to see. If you can manage to join
us I will give you fuller particulars where to meet. I leave
town on Thursday night. — Yours very sincerely,

J. PRESTWICH.

In the early summer a great sorrow overtook him :
in June 1850 he lost his mother, who had been in
failing health for several years. To his loving nature
this was a keen trial. He never spoke of her ex-
cept with great reverence, and in accents which
showed how tenderly he cherished her memory. Like
a true mother, she had been in the habit of reading
every word of her son's geological memoirs — no matter
how technical. One of these bears the inscription,
" To my dearly loved mother, the first and last
thought of the writer." Her miniature, in a dress
of white lace devoid of ornament, was always in sight :
it hung above his library mantel-shelf.

Among letters of this date we find one to his in-
teresting young niece Sophia Scott, labelled " my dear
uncle," written when her health showed symptoms of
fatal decline. Sophia died at Malaga, where she had

JET. 38.] LETTER TO HIS NIECE. 77

been taken in the vain hope that her life might be
lengthened by residence in a southern climate. This
letter displays his attention to every detail of the
observations he counselled her to make, and his solici-
tude to cherish in the fading young life an unceasing
interest in the marvellous works of nature. In read-
ing between the lines we are conscious that a tender
sympathy is expressed :—

LONDON, 25th July 1850.

MY DEAR SOPHIA, — The plant in the bottle which I sent you
yesterday is a water-grass, in repute for the exhibition of the
circulation of the sap in vegetables. You will, I think, find
it a very interesting phenomenon. It is easily shown, and the
specimen can be preserved for any length of time in water.
You can plant it in some washed vegetable mould, an inch
thick, on the bottom of any open glass jar or vase filled up with
water.

What I should recommend you to do would be to get any
common glass jar, about 8 to 12 inches high, and 4 to 8 inches
across ; place at the bottom of it about 1 or 1 J inch of washed
vegetable mould (washed, because it would otherwise make the
water too muddy), and then plant it with this and any other
water ground plants (mosses especially). Fill the jar to within
an inch of the top with dirty pond water (which will soon
become clear), and then put on the top of the water a few
floating water-plants — such as duckweed and ranunculus. In-
troduce into the water any water-insects or fresh-water shells
and small Crustacea — as the Planorbis, Lymnea, Helix, Cypris,
&c. The plants at the top will thus prevent evaporation, whilst
the animal and vegetable life will (as long as they are alive)
keep the water fresh and free from putrefaction. After a short
time the water will teem with a most active population, whose
habits and characters you can study at your leisure. The larger
animals will be visible enough through the glass, whilst the
smaller ones you can get out and place under the microscope
by means of a small dipping-tube. . . . Your mamma will, I
have no doubt, be able to assist you in all the manipulations,

78 WATER-SUPPLY. |inr,o.

ami will toll you what the genera are which I have referred
to above ; and your papa will bo able to assist you in deciphering
my hieroglyphics in case you are at a loss in any part <>!' this
letter, which I urn writing as usual in a hurry, The Himly, my

<|r;ir Soph in. n I' I lit- <> nl.jrrl,",, ::in;ill a : lli.'y MIT, i:; I'll II of i literal

As they tiro tlnm kept in tho propnr ohmient, you will he nhlc
to watch nil tluM-hnn^cH win. h I..K-- place in (Jinn. Kvcry <luy
will ;i.llnrd IVi'Mli pointM for <>l>Mrrvnl ion, .md I he mm.- you sec \.\\u
more you will, I think, wish to loarn, so beautiful are the objects
and so wonderful is their variety. Once started, there is no
trouble at nil. Keep tho jar in a light place, with occasional
HunHhino upon it. 1 have annexed a rough sketch of the jar,
so as to indicate its form and general appearance to assist you
in getting it up. Trusting that it may prove to you, my dear
Sophia, a source of pleasant and profitable recreation in your
close confinement,— I remain, your very affecte. uncle,

J. PKKSTWIOH, Jr.

One of the special subjects to which for some time
Prestwich had turned his attention was the question
of water-supply, especially with regard to the service
of London. Eventually he became the leading auth-
ority on this subject, and furnished many reports to

public, bodies ;md institutions thai sought l»is advice.
In later years be occasionally received in<|uiries from
private individuals, who only knew him by reputation,
asking him to point out (lie best situation in \vliich
to build a country house (giving the range of a, low

cou nl ie;;), ;;<> ;is |o ensure a i^ood \va(er supply. Tho
request of a. si ranker writing for information about
tho elfects of sea waler on blocks of maj.;-nelic iron ore
rernxed immediate attention.

His first public address on the water-supply of
London was jjfivon at tho Royal Institute of llritish
Architects, Sth July I S..O, and was published in its
Proceedings. Its title was, "On the (Jeoloincal Con-

MT. 88.] TERTIARY MEMOIRS. 79

ditions which determine the Relative Value of the
Water-bearing Strata of the Tertiary and Cretaceous
Series, and on the Probability of finding in the Lower-
Members of the latter, beneath London, Fresh and
Large Sources of Water Supply." His opinion, how-
ever, which was confirmed by the experience of later
years, was that the growing needs of London would
necessitate in the future) an ampler supply, for which
tho far-off mountains of Wales might be the best
source.

Boforo tho publication of his book on * The Water-
bearing Strata,' tho first of three important rnomoirs
which will ovor bo associated with his namo was read
at tho Geological Society— " On tho Structure of the
Strata between tho London Clay and tho Chalk in the
London and Eampshire Tertiary Systems. Part I.,
Tho BaHomont H<*1 of tho London Clay, 1850." This
papor is illustrated by twenty admirable sections, and
a tablo is givon showing tho goneral range and dis-
tribution of tho organic remains of tho basement bod

o

of tho London Cl ay through tho Hampshire and Lon-
don Tertiary districts. The lino of range is taken from
tho IH!O of Wight north to Hungerford, thence east to
Homo Hay.

Thoso three papers were the outcome of years of
caroful research : thoy defined the boundaries of indi-
vidual bods which had not previously been discrimin-
ated, or had boon confused with each other, and the
relations of tho Tertiary strata in the .London and
Hampshire basins woro demonstrated.

It, IIRH boon pointed out by Mr II. B. Woodward1
that Prestwich, commencing in the London area,
zealously traversed tho country wherever the Lower

1 Natural Scionce, Au#. 189(5, p. i)l.

80 DR FITTON. [1850-51.

Tertiary strata were to be found, and hardly an out-
lier of any importance escaped his observation. Mr
Whitaker, who more than any other man has followed
in the footsteps of Prestwich over this large region,
referred in 1872 to the literature of the subject, and
remarked that the period 1841 to 1860 "might well
be called the ' Prestwichian period/ from the author
who first clearly made out the detailed structure of
the London basin." l '

Notebook entries for August 1850 record detailed de-
scriptions and sections made when on a tour in France.
The districts round Boulogne, Glermont, and Beauvais
were again explored, and the repeated exhibition of
" drift" at Beauvais, and its resemblance to that near
Marlborough, attracted his attention. The Abbe Mail-
lard was Prestwich's companion at Bracheux for an
examination of its sands. Epernay was the locality
from which he dated in September, where he was
joined by " Morris and Haines," and on this occasion
copious notes were made on the " Sables de Billy."
Those repeated visits to Epernay bore rich fruit.

With the growth of geological knowledge questions
continually arise with reference to geological nomen-
clature. Perhaps no names of formations have given
rise to more discussion than those of Upper and Lower
Greensand and Neocomian. The views, therefore, of
Dr Fitton — one of the old masters of geology, and
the chief English authority on the Cretaceous strata
— will be read with interest : —

W. H. Fitton to J. Prestwich.

53 UPPER HARLEY STREET, 15th March 1851.

MY DEAR SIR, — I hope you are making good progress with
your paper ; and I wish to mention to you (as it may save you

1 Mem. Geol. Survey, vol. iv. p. 395.

JDT. 38-39.] NEOCOMIAN. 81

the trouble of preparing any long note upon the subject) that,
after going through most of the French papers in the ' Bulletin
de la Soc. Ge'ol. de France,' I find that the term G-res Vert is so
frequently used in a right sense for our L. G. Sand ; whilst, as you
know, the French geologists have already distinct and different
names for the Upper Green sand (" Craie tufau," " Craie chloritee,"
" Glauconie crayeuse "), and thus have avoided the impropriety
of joining, as we have done, the " Upper " and " Lower " Green
sands, which have really no connection. It would be very
unlikely that the use of a new term would be accepted, and
thought necessary (if that is the only ground on which new
names can be acceptable) in France.

I think, therefore, after fully considering the subject, that I
shall confine myself — at present — to proposing simply to adopt
the term " Neocomian " for the lowest divisions of our Cretaceous
deposits; making it a part of our Lower G-reen sand, and in-
cluding only the groups I., II., and III. of my large Table.1 The
groups next above IV. to XIV. of the Table will then be the
middle division — distinguished and well known in England ever
since 1824-25 by containing G-ryphcea sinuata, and being con-
spicuously the middle division of my section at Hythe and Folke-
stone (Kent). You will see in the Table that in XIV. (6, No.
45) there is a continuous line of fossils going out there in a very
distinct manner. This line is, I am very glad to find, also very
distinct in the Hythe section (at Sandgate) ; and there also separates
the middle division of the L. Green sand from the uppermost
division (XV. and XVI. of the Table), which, both at Atherfield
and near Folkestone, consists chiefly of pure whitish or buff and
yellowish-gray sand, with very few fossils (yet with some shells,
and these sometimes silicified !). This upper division of the
L. G. S. occurs in France (and I suspect also in Switzerland,
where it has caused some perplexity).

The " Gault " is immediately above this upper light-coloured
sandy division, and makes a strongly contrasted boundary. I
think of giving a short sketch of the progress of inquiry, so far
as the Neocomian and our L. G. sand are concerned. This will
enable me to give an account of the orginal Terrain "Neocomien "

1 See Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. iii. p. 289.
F

82 GODWIN-AUSTEN. [l851.

— or rather, as it was called at first, of the Terrain crttace'
inftricur.

And I hope thus to make everything clear as to the identities
and differences existing between our group and some of those on
the Continent.

When the members of the Palseontological Society come to
Upper Gfreensand they will be enabled to judge of the expediency
of making a new name for that deposit. And this additional
change will by that time have been rendered more easy — to
introduce further alterations if they should then be desired.
But in the meantime I should not republish my note about
Vectine.1 — Yours very truly, W. H. FITTON.

One of the intimate friends who was frequently his
companion in Easter expeditions was Mr R. A. C.
Godwin- Austen, F.R.S., one of the most distinguished
geologists of his day, whose acute reasoning was shown
in his famous paper on the probable underground
extension of the Coal Measures in the south-east of
England. A warm friendship existed between them,
which was only severed by the death of Godwin-
Austen in 1884.2 They often went abroad together,
perhaps for a few days at a time, to France or
Belgium, to work out the geology of some particular
district — the route having been carefully planned. The
following letter throws a light on our geologist's pro-
ceedings. He had indeed made for himself a position
altogether unique :—

From R. A. C. [Gfodwin-]Austen to J. Prestwich.

CHILWORTH, April 7, 1851.

DEAE PRESTWICH, — Do you intend to take your geological
pupils into the country this Easter? If so, I am ready for a

1 See Proc. Geol. Soc., vol. iv. p. 406, and Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. i.
p. 189.

2 Mr Austen took the additional name of Godwin in 1854. He was born
in 1808.

Photo by Jl'. 7. Hawker, Bournemouth.

R. A. C. GODWIN-AUSTEN, F.R.S.

Ml. 39.] MURCHISON. 83

tramp over any formation, but the less argillaceous it is the
better.

I will leave it to Sharpe to fight the battle about dinner. All
I stipulate for (Farnham being my prompter) is, that you will
allow us breakfasts. What do you think of Oxford, commencing
with Cumnor Hurst, and so looking up the old Doctor [Fitton]
over his Headington, Garsington, Hazeley, Tetsworth, and Thame
sections, and so on to Tring ?

I shall not be able to be at the next " Geological " ; but should
it be proposed to renew the walk of the last year or two, I will
join the force any day, anywhere, you may name.

Do not let my suggestion as to the district influence you. I
am such a wanderer in our wide field that any district will
come alike to me. — Ever yours very truly,

E. A. C. AUSTEN.

The next letter is from another geologist, also with a
request for Joseph Prestwich to join in an excursion :—

Sir E. I. Murchison to J. Prestivich.

16 BELGRAVR SQUARE, April 14. 1851.

MY DEAR Sm, — Would it suit your book to make a run of a
day or two to the other side of the Weald, looking at a few points
by the way, and at some of the transverse splits in the S. Downs ?

I intend to look at the valley of the Cuckmere, E. of Brighton,
and at the " Wealden Drift " of Barcombe, mentioned by Mantell
and Lyell.

I think of going on Thursday next. I shall probably return by
the other side of the county — vid Pulborough and Guildford.

It would be gratifying to me to have a playfellow like yourself
for a part, at all events, of my tramp ; and if you have a little
holiday, you may not dislike to employ it to some extent in this
way. — Ever yours, BOD. I. MURCHISON.

The careful research necessary for the elaboration of
his Tertiary papers also aided him largely in the
acquisition of his knowledge of the permeable and
impermeable strata, and of the action of springs and

84 THE WATER-BEARING STRATA. [1851.

underground waters. In 1851 his volume on 'The
Water-bearing Strata of the Country around London,
with reference especially to the Water- Supply of the
Metropolis/ was published by his friend Van Voorst,
and was most favourably received.1 His complete
mastery of the subject must have taken the public by
surprise. The author used often laughingly to affirm,
that if he had only at that time set up as a consulting
water engineer, he would have become a rich man.

It was probably about this date, or it might have
been earlier, that a proposal was made to him to join the
late Mr Allnutt, father of the first Lady Brassey, in
business as active partner. This partnership wrould
possibly have led the way to fortune, but Joseph Prest-
wich (who had been his own master from the time he
had assumed the headship of his father's firm) saw that
under such circumstances his City work would become
more exacting — that it would in a greater measure
interfere with and curtail his leisure for geologising :
on that account, and while fully alive to all the advan-
tages offered, he declined.

It will be gleaned from the following letter to Mrs
Russell Scott that he had under consideration a plan for
exchanging City work for some other avocation in which
he felt that his talents might be turned to better
account :—

LONDON, 17th May 1851.

You have exactly expressed, my own dear sister, that which I
feel upon the subject of my work. I care very little about any
pecuniary benefit it may be to me, provided the plan should prove

1 This issue was limited, for the large plate which accompanied the
volume was accidentally destroyed before sufficient copies were printed
off. In 1895, however, a new issue was published (without the plate),
and this contains much new matter and some corrections in the form of
a supplement.

2BT. 39.] BUSINESS AND GEOLOGY. 85

of benefit and advantage to my fellow-men, — but more especially
do I hope and trust that it may lead to some amelioration in the
condition of those who, by circumstances, are placed in a position
of toil and hardship which we who are in a more fortunate posi-
tion should as a duty alleviate as far as lies in our power. The
misery I see around me is indeed sad, — it makes my heart bleed.
It is on this account that I must feel my dependent situation—
my inability to assist more effectually in the improvement and
welfare of the poorer classes. Then again, with reference to
Clapham, I deeply feel the responsibility to maintain a proper
provision for them — such as they have been accustomed to.
It is these considerations, and not a mere question of £ s. d.,
that lead me to hope, as a possible contingency, that some change
in my present position may result from this work. Then again,
as a secondary consideration, I feel that I am out of place here —
that my time and labour are not employed in those channels in
which they might yield their proper return. I feel that I could
make more of them, not only for my own benefit, but also in that
of which I feel the paramount importance — the progress of
science and its application to our improvement, intellectual and
physical.

It is therefore with regard to the public advantage, which I
hope would result from the carrying out of my plans, that I
should feel disappointed if my calculations should not prove
correct. Their success would be an ample reward to me, and no
disappointment should I experience on my own account by that
proving the only one. — In haste, I remain, my dearest Isabella,
ever your affectionate brother, J. PRESTWICH.

Nothing came of the project mentioned in the above
letter. Before long Prestwich was again taking one
of those business journeys during which he contrived
to make fresh geological observations, as may be
inferred from the following letter :—

J. Prestwich to Sir Charles LyelL DORCHESTER, 21st June 1851.

MY DEAR SIR, — I shall be most happy to take a short excursion.
I fear that we cannot reach the Eeculvers or Sandwich, but there

86 HOLMFIRTH FLOOD. [1851-52.

is an intermediate section of great interest at Upnor, near
Eochester, which we might easily visit by means of a return day
ticket on the North Kent line ; or, if you prefer, we can take a
day ticket to Maidstone, and examine the Drift and Greensands.
With regard to the Reculvers and Sandwich, I will give you full
particulars of the best localities and points, and mark them on
the Ordnance Map, in case you wish to visit them on your way
to Belgium. I forgot to mention the Abbey Wood cutting. It
is very interesting. The other section, however, which I men-
tioned, on Plumstead Heath, shows the same phenomena. I arn
not going beyond this town. To-morrow I hope to spend in the
Isle of Purbeck, and expect to be in London on Tuesday. I shall
not, therefore, fail to be present at the next meeting, when I
shall be happy to arrange the excursion in any way that may be
most agreeable to you, and remain, my dear sir, yours very
truly, J. PRESTWICH.

The date of publication of his paper " On the Drift
at Sangatte Cliff, near Calais," was 1851, while that
"On some of the Effects of the Holmfirth Flood"
was published in the volume of the Geological Society
for 1852. Reference is made to the latter in the
following note :—

J. Prestwich to W. Cunnington. DERBY, 8th March 1852.

DEAR CUNNINGTON, — ... I went from Huddersfield to
Holmfirth and then on to the Bilberry reservoir. The effects of
the flood were most remarkable. The valley was in many places
literally strewed with debris of sand, gravel, and rock, 1 to 6
feet thick. Transported blocks of 2 to 5 feet were common.
One huge fellow measured 22 feet by 6 and 2J deep. Talk of
glaciers ! it would have taken one fifty years to have done what
this water-power did in an hour. — Yours very truly,

J. PEESTWICH.

The third of Prestwich's great Tertiary memoirs was
likewise published in the Geological Society's Journal

^T. 39-40.] GEOLOGICAL PAPERS. 87

for 1852, thus appearing two years in advance of the
second part. Its title was, " On the Structure of the
Strata between the London Clay and the Chalk in the
London and Hampshire Tertiary Systems. Part III.,
The Thanet Sands."

The entry in the note-book for this year is : " Easter
Excursion, 6th to 15th April 1852. — Forbes, Austen,
Morris, and myself started on Tuesday for Boulogne.
D. Sharpe and Tylor joined us at Calais on Wednesday
night." They were met at Tournay by M. Dumont
and M. Lambert, who were their guides over the most
interesting ground in the vicinity of Mons, Liege,
Aix, &c.

Another letter to Mrs Russell Scott mentions the
amount of time spent on two geological papers : —

LONDON, 22nd December 1852.

MY DEAREST ISABELLA, — Notwithstanding the troubles I have
gone through, I am happy to say that my views and feelings
continue as fresh as ever. I have no feelings of disappointment,
and an abundance of hope. As contributing to this desirable
end, I find geology is a most important adjunct. You must not,
however, judge of the amount of labour (one, by the bye, of love,
and therefore not felt as a burden but as an enjoyment) by the
size of the results. The paper on the Thanet Sands is part of
the results of ten to twelve years' researches — that on the Holm-
firth Flood is the result of one Sunday's walk on a fine day last
February. You are very good to read my papers. I do not
expect it. You form an honourable exception to the rest of the
family. My poor mother used to be the only member of it who
ever had the patience to get through them.

I shall be delighted to see the children in town. Kate and
her children are coming up to-morrow. With my best love to
all the absentees, and wishing them all a happy and merry Christ-
mas, I remain, ever your affectionate brother,

J. PRESTWICH, Jun.

88 GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF FRANCE. [1852-53.

During the session of 1852-53 of the Societe Geolo-
gique de France, a paper which excited great interest
in Paris was communicated to the Society by its
English member, Joseph Prestwich. Of the estimate
of this paper among French geologists we quote the
Notice to the Society in November 1896 by M. Albert
Gaudry, the eminent palaeontologist.

II visite ensuite longuement FEst du bassin de Paris et le
Nord de la France ; enfin, en 1883, Prestwich nous a donne des
renseignements de premiere importance " Sur la position geo-
logique des sables et du calcaire de Rilly pres Reims " (Bull. Soc.
Ge*ol., Ire se"rie, tome x., p. 300). II avait reconnu que les sables
de Rilly etaient places a la partie superieure des sables de
Bracheux, sur le prolongement des sables de Jonchery et de
Chalons-sur-Vesles, position qui est aujourd'hui hors de toute
contestation, tandis que Hebert soutenait que ces sables et le cal-
caire qui les surmonte formaient une serie distincte, anterieure
& toutes les autres formations tertiaires du bassin de Paris.

La demonstration de Prestwich paraissait peremptoire, ce-
pendant elle ne fut pas admise par Hubert, qui, dans une note
detaille, publi^e I'ane'e suivante, maintint ses vues et combattit
son contradicteur avec une energie passionnee, persistant a
enseigner pendant plus de trente ans la meme erreur dix fois
re'pete'e. Justement froisse de la rdponse d'Hebert, M. Prestwich
priva notre Bulletin de toute nouvelle communication, et ce n'est
que tout a fait a la fin de la vie d'He'bert, que nous Favons vu
reprendre ses publications sur le bassin de Paris pour etablir la
cornparaison des assises de ce bassin avec celles du bassin de
Londres qu'il connaissait a fond et avec le tertiaire beige auquel
il s'inte'ressait beaucoup aussi. Les recherches theoriques ne
lui faisaient pas negliger les applications pratiques de la science
et il s'est occupe activement des questions de recherches d'eau,
de houille, et comme conseil pour les grands travaux publics.
On peut re*sumer d'un mot son oeuvre geologique en disant
qu'elle restera pour nous tous un modele.

Better than any words of ours, this quotation shows

&T. 40-41.] EDWARD FORBES. 89

the position that Joseph Prestwich held in the world
of science in France.

During this and the preceding year the subject of
this Memoir had been in close correspondence with the
lamented Edward Forbes. They were both at work
on the geology of the Isle of Wight, yet there is not
a shade of jealousy on the part of either. They were
both only eager to help each other — eager for the
elucidation of truth. Among several letters from this
distinguished naturalist, one from Sandown, dated 17th
December 1852, begins : —

DEAR PRESTWICH, — Your letter is a most interesting one to
me, and I hope you will write another, stating objections and
suggestions, as it is of consequence to me that I should look to
all points whilst I am on the spot. ... I have had your
note on Hempstead transcribed and sent down to me, and have
been much pleased with it. ...

A second long letter from Sandown, of January 16,
1853, enters into detail on the arguments and facts in
support of the writer's divisions of the geological beds
of the Isle of Wight, and concludes : —

As you say, it is difficult to judge of equivalents owing to the
very defective French lists. On the general questions discussed
at the end of your letter it will be better to talk. I hope you
will let me join your Easter expedition — it is exactly where I
should like to go ; and with all this fresh in my head, I may be
of use. — Ever, dear Prestwich, very sincerely,

EDWARD FORBES.

This next Easter trip is recorded very briefly.
"1853, 25th March. — Lynn with Forbes and Austen."

The last letter from Edward Forbes was from Hythe,
25th August 1853. (He died in 1854.) He and our
geologist had arranged to make an excursion to France,

90 EDWARD FORBES. [l853.

the former to be accompanied by Mrs Forbes. Prest-
wich was unable to cross with them, and followed later.
Forbes wrote : —

I see no reason from your note for deviating from the plans
we concocted. If you can leave town sooner than you say, so
much the better. Within the limits of being back in England
on the 27th of next month, I am in a manner free to move in
any direction, and so that we can manage to see all that we pro-
posed together, I can spend the time pleasantly and profitably in
any direction that may be convenient. ... If you should be
delayed longer than you at present anticipate, I would go on to
Fontainebleau, and you could pick us up there.

If you have any hints or advice to give about seeing points
about Paris, a line addressed here will find me until Saturday at
midday. — Ever, dear Prestwich, &c., EDWARD FORBES.

The biographer of Forbes remarks : " These few
weeks in France were weeks of thorough enjoyment.
He used to speak of them as his ' honeymoon trip,' and
as the very happiest time of his whole life. He made
work subservient to enjoyment, and the holiday was in
this way the first, not on duty, that Mrs Forbes and
he had spent together." 1

Edward Forbes had found out too the charm of the
society of his other companion on this expedition — a
companion who was so modest and unassuming, so full
of knowledge, and ever so ready to impart it. In
rough notes for 1853 we read that on September 23rd
a visit (no doubt a joint one with E. Forbes) was paid
to the famous conchological collection of Deshayes,
when among a multitude of shells Prestwich detected
a Cyrena semistriata having a strong resemblance " to
the unexp. spec, at Deptford." 2

1 Memoir of Edward Forbes, p. 522.

2 See Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. x. p. 138.

JST. 41.] ROYAL SOCIETY. 91

1853 was the date of his election into the Royal
Society, an honour prized by every man who has done
original work. Prestwich's certificate of candidature
for the Royal Society was signed by Lyell, De la Beche,
Murchison, Edward Forbes, Ramsay, Daniel Sharpe,
Bowerbank, John Phillips, W. B. Carpenter, George
Busk, and Huxley.

J. Prestwich to Sir Charles Lyell. BRISTOL, IBth November 1853.

MY DEAR SIR CHARLES, — I am hardly yet prepared to answer
your inquiries so distinctly as I could wish. " The Drift "
question is so beset with difficulties, and is of such extent, that
I cannot venture to bring it forward at one time, but I shall, as
with my Tertiary papers, discuss each stage of it separately. I
hope, therefore, that you will have returned before I bring for-
ward the "Denudation of the Weald," as on that point I should
particularly wish to have the advantage of your discussion. In
many of Mr Trimmer's views I quite agree, — such as two or three
periods of gravel-spread, the more recent date of the mammalifer-
ous beds of the Thames valley as compared with the boulder
clay, &c., — but in many others I differ. The one to which you
allude — viz., the extent of denudation at this first period of sub-
sidence— I cannot agree in. The denudation of the Chalk evi-
dently commenced at the commencement of the Maestricht
period, and was continued through the period of the Thanet
Sands to that of the London Clay. During this long interval it
seems to me that the Chalk over the Weald was planed down to
a mere shell, and in many places worn away, so that the work
of denudation left to be done at the more recent "drift" period
was comparatively small. But even in this period I do not
believe that it was all done at once — there is, I think, on the
contrary, evidence of several successive clearances.

At the same time, unlike the slow wearing away of the older
Eocene period, I believe these recent changes to have been sudden
and violent in their operation. Not having my books with me,
I can hardly make the references which I could wish. My
section (No. 8, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. viii. p. 258) is, as

92 DE LA BECHE. [l854.

you observe, merely a representative diagram. It probably
conveys my idea as well as a more natural section. . . .

It seems to me evident that such a mass of materials derived
apparently from the Chalk and Greensands, combined with the
distinct thinning off of the chalk, before it was covered by the
Tertiaries, as we approached the Wealden, indicates clearly the
destruction and removal of a large portion of the Chalk within
the Wealden area before the Drift period. Mr Trimmer in his
diagram does not seem to allow for the facts. I shall be most
happy on my return to town in a week or ten days to draw out
a more correct section, and remain, my dear Sir Charles, yours
very truly, J. PRESTWICH.

My first communication connected with this subject will be on
the Ked and Mammaliferous Crags. This I hope to have ready
in the spring.

Many years elapsed, however, before his papers on
these subjects were communicated to the Geological
Society.

At Easter, in 1854, Prestwich, Austen, Daniel
Sharpe, and Forbes paid another visit to France, to
explore the districts called the Pays de Bray.1

This year was notable in the life of Prestwich for
the production of several papers, but was most memor-
able from the fact of a proposition having been
made to him, which, if it had been accepted, must
have altered his whole life. Sir Henry De la Beche,
the well-known founder of the Geological Survey, —
his good and constant friend, — wrote to Prestwich
offering him the Professorship of Geology at the
Thomason College, Roorkee, adding as an inducement
that it would be an opportunity for working out the
geology of the Himalayas. In the kindest way Sir
Henry gave him to understand that every facility
would be afforded him for the furtherance of this

1 Memoir of Forbes, p. 531.

MT. 42.] SEDGWICK. 93

object, with regard to leave, allowances, &c. The
offer was tempting, but there was no hesitation in
the answer. It was impossible for Joseph Prestwich
to abandon the City firm which held the family for-
tunes. Besides, he was not a good subject to begin
a career in a climate like that of India : he was forty-
two years of age, and his health had suffered from over-
work. Added to these reasons, each of which was
imperative, there were others which drew and held
him to his native soil. He had thrown himself heart
and soul into the elaboration of his Tertiary papers ;
he was thinking out the intricate problems which,
until his Memoirs appeared, had never before been
clearly made out. On all counts, therefore, he de-
cided to remain and plod on as the hard - working
City man.

A letter regarding his Tertiary papers from the
illustrious Professor Adam Sedgwick l will be read
with interest : —

A. Sedgwick to J. Prestwich. NORWICH, May n, 1854.

MY DEAR SIR, — During the single day I was in London I left
one or two of my papers in a parcel addressed to you at the
Geological Society. I hope you will accept them as a mark of
my respect and gratitude for your very valuable services in dis-
entangling the relations of our Tertiary series. It is nearly over
with me as a field geologist ; for my health has failed me so that
I am now incapable of the hard labour in which I once delighted ;
and my eyes have so greatly failed that I am unfitted for the
comparatively easy work of collecting specimens in the quarries.
Indeed I never was a patient collector, though once I had in-
tense pleasure in working among the difficult and puzzling sec-
tions of our older rocks : but that work is nearly over on my

1 The Kev. Adam Sedgwick was a Canon of Norwich Cathedral and also
Wood ward ian Professor of Geology at Cambridge. Born March 1785 ;
died January 27, 1873.

94 TERTIARY MEMOIRS. [l854.

part, and others have taken it up with great effect. I should
rejoice to see you in Cambridge any time that I am resident.
For the next two months I shall be a prisoner in the Cathedral
Close. — Very truly yours, A. SEDGWICK.

J. Prestwich to Sir Charles Lyell. NORWICH, 3rd July 1854.

MY DEAK SIR CHARLES, — I shall be in town in a day or two,
but write now to answer your question about the sand-pipes on
the escarpment of the N. Downs.

I drew attention to the fact in my paper read in March, on
account of its importance in showing at how very recent a date
the last most important denudation of the Weald took place.
The section I gave agrees with your sketch. The slope, when-
ever I have seen it, is quite bare, and shows no signs of an old
cliff. There is, it is true, a little chalk rubble, but that might
arise from pluvial action. — I remain, my dear Sir Charles, yours
very truly, J. PRESTWICH.

In 1854 we have also an array of papers which
appeared during that year. The one which stands
first on the list is the second of his Tertiary memoirs,
" On the Structure of the Strata between the London
Clay and the Chalk in the London and Hampshire
Tertiary Systems. Part II., The Woolwich and Head-
ing Series." In this paper an account is given of
the impressions of fossil leaves from a bed of clay in
the railway - cutting for the Newbury branch line,
through the hill immediately west of Heading. An
excellent plate shows these beautifully preserved im-
pressions of plants, and in a note by Sir Joseph D.
Hooker, also accompanying Prestwich's paper, the
botanist remarks that, " both in a geological and
botanical point of view, the Reading fossils are of
first-rate interest and importance, as presenting us
with an association of forms so entirely analogous to
those now existing, as to leave no grounds for assum-

Ml. 42.] TERTIARY MEMOIRS. 95

ing that the now prevalent forms of foliage amongst
Dicotyledonous plants did not predominate before the
glacial epoch, posterior to which all the existing
British plants, except the alpines, were introduced
into our island, as has been shown by Professor E.
Forbes in his Essay on the Flora and Fauna of the
British Islands." 1 The paper following it is a short
one, " On some Swallow Holes on the Chalk Hills
near Canterbury." That which succeeds it is " On
the Thickness of the London Clay ; on the Relative
Position of the Fossiliferous Beds of Sheppey, High-
gate, Harwich, Newnham, Bognor, &c. ; and on the
Probable Occurrence of the Bagshot Sands in the
Isle of Sheppey." The memoir immediately next to
the preceding, and which treats of the same geological
formations from the palaepntological side, is entitled,
" On the Distinctive Physical and Palseontological
Features of the London Clay and Bracklesham Sands ;
and on the Independence of these two Groups of
Strata."

Of these Eocene memoirs, Edward Forbes wrote —
and he was no mean judge : " These remarkable essays
embody the result of many years' careful observation,
and are unexcelled for completeness, minuteness, and
excellence of generalisation."

It will be observed that in 1854 there was a great
amount of published work. It is true that all this
geological literature had been thought out and worked
at before, yet the amount of patient labour is " amaz-
ing," when it is remembered that his daily duties ab-
sorbed what are usually deemed the working hours of
the day.

Besides the writings which were brought out by the

1 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. x. p. 165, 1854.

96 THE GROUND BENEATH US. [1854-55.

Geological Society in 1854, Prestwich gave the first
of three lectures on the 1st May at the Clapham
Athenaeum, on the geology of Clapham and of London
generally. There was a particular fitness in his de-
livering these lectures, as he was a native of the place,
and knew every inch of ground described ; they were
heartily received (the two other lectures being given
in April 1856), and although not written with a view
to publication, they were brought out (at the request
of friends) in 1857 in book form, as the well-known
little work, ' The Ground Beneath Us : Its Geological
Phases and Changes.' There were then but few
elementary treatises of geology, and none, like those
at the present time, which combined the soundest in-
struction in the most simple and pleasing language, so
as to make geology easy ; therefore it supplied a real
want. It was written with the terse clearness which
characterises all his writings, and was deservedly
popular. Letters of congratulation on the appearance
of this booklet poured in from the old geological
leaders, some of them couched in the most generous
terms. It was acknowledged to be the best possible
introduction to geology, and had a large sale. Twenty
years later Professor Huxley was heard by the writer
to single it out and recommend it to his class for study,
as the best exponent of the geology of London and its
neighbourhood.

Although the record of geological papers for 1855 is
shorter than that for 1854, still 1855 is signalised as
being the year which produced another of the Tertiary
memoirs — those memoirs on which his fame as a
geologist will to a certain extent rest. It bears the
title, " On the Correlation of the Eocene Tertiaries of
England, France, and Belgium."

MT. 42-43.] VALLEY GRAVELS. 97

It had been preceded by two papers of relatively
less importance, namely, by that " On a Fossiliferous
Deposit in the Gravel at West Hackney," and " On
a Fossiliferous Bed of the Drift Period near the
Reculvers." The two which followed it were, " On the
Boring through the Chalk at Kentish Town," and a
" Note on the Gravel near Maidenhead, in which the
Skull of the Musk Buffalo was found." These were
both read in 1855, and appeared in the Geological
Society's Journal in 1856.

Reference is made to the last paper in the following
letter to Mr Lubbock,1 who subsequently was his com-
panion in several excursions : —

MARK LANE, 10/7/55.

MY DEAR SIR, — I am rejoiced to hear of the discovery of the
musk-ox in the Maidenhead gravel. . . . There are several other
large pits in the valley gravel which may be worth examining.
Could you also inquire whether any bones were found in the
gravel cutting of the Wycombe Railway at the hill (Folly Hill)
adjoining Maidenhead ? I inquired, but was not quite satisfied with
the answer I obtained, although it was in the negative and agreed
with my general views on the subject. On Saturday last instead
of going to Staines I went to Brentwood and Warley. I shall
most probably therefore go to Staines on Saturday next, and in
that case shall require the map which I herewith send. If you
will let me have it on Friday evening or Saturday morning
before 12, it will do. Sir C. Lyell and I went to Grays last
week, but shall have to return to Ilford probably on Friday or
Monday next. We shall not remain long at the pits, but would
show them to you, and possibly, if you could accompany us,
might have to leave you there, as I fear there might not be room
in the carriage of Mr Meeson, who proposes to take us to some
other pits in the neighbourhood. The Grays pits are, however,
the great features, and these I shall be happy to show you, and
to join you again there. Believe me to remain, yours very truly.

J. PRESTWICH.

1 Now Sir John Lubbock, Bart.
G

98 HIGH-LEVEL GRAVEL. [1855-56.

J. Prestwich to Sir Charles Lyell. MARK LANE, 12th July 1855.

MY DEAR SIR CHARLES, — Unless business calls me out of
town, any alteration of the days will be immaterial to me.

I think you will certainly find work for more than one day at
Pulborough. On Wednesday, the 18th, I am engaged. Thurs-
day and Friday will do for Flower's and Ilford. When we go to
Ilford, I should like to take you to Havering-Atte-Bower,
Chigwell, and Hainault Forest, so that you may see the relation
of the Ilford deposit to the surrounding drifts, which I think
always essential.

No mammalian remains have ever been found in the high-
level gravel, nor I believe in the mid-level, though the oppor-
tunities for finding them are almost equally good as in the valley
gravel. The bones brought by Mr Lubbock from the valley
gravel of Maidenhead prove to belong to the musk-ox, — the first
found in this country, — a capital fact.

A newspaper paragraph which I have not yet seen announces
the discovery also of bones and tusks in some gravel beds near
Kingston.

The correction of my Correlation paper reminds me of some
questions I had to ask you.

You give a list of shells from beds of sandstone in your section
of Cassel Hill (Q. J. Geol. Soc., vol. viii. p. 331). May not these
beds belong to the Nummulites planulatus series ? Although this
fossil is not found at Cassel, M. D'Archiac alludes to fossiliferous
beds of that age at Cassel. I have ventured to refer to that list
(p. 3) as possibly belonging to the Lits Coquilliers zone. Can
you now furnish me with a more complete list of the shells of
the N. planulatus series than you possessed in 1852 ? Have you
also increased your list of fossils of the N. Icevigatus (Calcaire
Gfrossier) series of Belgium ?

If you can give me any information on these points I shall feel
much obliged, and remain, dear Sir Charles, yours very truly,

J. PRESTWICH.

— I should much like to see Forbes's MS. about the
gravels. He has, I see, adopted my term of high- and low-level
gravels, and I believe agreed in several of my views. How

JET. 43-44.] TREASURER OF GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 99

deeply I regret he is not amongst us to continue the inquiry
and description with us.

The following note, also to Sir Charles Lyell, gives a
little glimpse of Prestwich's life in Mark Lane : —

MARK LANE, Monday, 1855.

MY DEAR SIR CHARLES, — I am not surprised that you com-
plained of the exchanged coat. You have the best reason for
doing so. On returning home this morning a red label on a coat
on the sofa caught my eye. My housekeeper sometimes places
there an old coat of mine that I use to read or work in. This is
missing. When here on Thursday you must have placed yours
on or by mine on the sofa, and in going away have taken up the
wrong coat. I am glad to find that the exchange was made here
and not in the railway carriage. ... I hasten to return your
coat, which I hope you have not wanted, and remain yours very
truly, J. PRESTWICH.

P.S. — I walked yesterday through a good cutting of the Lower
Bagshot at Stroud Green and one good one of the Middle (Green-
sand) Bagshot at King's Beeches. I found no fossils, but traced
the Wealden gravel over some extent of the ground. I have
found the same gravel, but not quite so mixed with L. G. S., at
Hazely near Strathfieldsaye.

In 1855 Prestwich was elected as one of the Secre-
taries of the Geological Society, Mr J. Carrick Moore
being the other Secretary. This honorary post he
occupied only one year, as in 1856 he became Treasurer
of the Society, an office which he held until 1868. In
this year he read his second correlation paper, " On
the Correlation of the [Middle] Eocene Tertiaries of
England, France, and Belgium." This was published
in 1857.

The following letter from Sir Charles Lyell refers to
this paper, and especially to the list it contains of those
Bracklesham shells which occur also in the Paris

100 CITY LIFE. [1856-57.

Tertiaries, showing their vertical distribution in the
latter series. The table given in this paper of the
Barton fossils, with their equivalents in France and
Belgium, is also most elaborate.

MILDENHALL, SUFFOLK, Janry. 30, 1857.

MY DEAR PRESTWICH, — I only received your proof to-day, sent
me here into the country.

It makes me very desirous to see more — please to send me
other proofs : as I return to town to-morrow, I shall be able to let
you have them again immediately. I have not sent to the press
my pp. in which I adopt the term Lower Miocene as the name
for what I have called in 5th edn. Upper Eocene, but I must
send them in a few days.

Your paper interests me much — the tables at p. 10 [pp. 93, 118]
in particular. They are well imagined and startling, and remind
one of Barrande's Colonies, on which I am writing — two adjoining,
contemporaneous, distinct natural-history provinces. You have
brought out the difference well.

Darwin will make much of it. Some barrier there must have
been, but I daresay the so-called species are permanent varieties,
as you suggest, in many cases — like Lowe's varieties of many
land shells in the different Madeira islands, which he makes into
species.

If you give a general table pray send it to me, that I may see
your divisions. — Ever, &c., CHAS. LYELL.

Perhaps Prestwich's mode of life at this time con-
duced to the marvellous amount of published work.
Before he had assumed control of City affairs Mark
Lane had been his home, where an old housekeeper
ministered to his wants and provided — in conformity
with instructions — his very simple fare. Soon after
dinner, or about eight or nine o'clock, the note-books
were by his side, with maps and sections ; and with a
sheaf of foolscap before him, it became his regular
practice to write far on into the night. It was thus

MT. 44-45.] DEATH OF HIS FATHEil. 101

in the hours robbed from sleep that the Tertiary
memoirs were penned. He pursued this course, this
" burning the candle at both ends," not without mis-
givings on the part of his friends — and they were
many. When practicable he went into the country
from Saturday until Monday, and thus had a refresh-
ing change — a change which, it is needless to add, was
utilised for his geology. Also he occasionally spent
an evening with one of his married sisters, the three
nearest in age having then their own homes.

The genial nature of the man w^as shown by the
evening parties which he contrived to give in his
bachelor City establishment, when there was a goodly
muster of relatives and young cousins, whom he de-
lighted to have round him, and amongst whom there
was always unanimity as to the great success of
" Cousin Joseph's party." Of course there was dancing
for the young people, no one joining in it with more
zest than the host himself. These parties made a
curious yet pleasant break in the monotony of his
evening work : in calculating the daily delivery of
springs and rivers ; in tabulating lists of fossils ; in
the careful drawing of maps and sections ; in think-
ing out, and in throwing new light upon, obscure
problems in geology.

The death of our geologist's father, which took
place in November 1856, made a great change in
his life, as it led to his return to the family home,
where his youngest sister, Civil Prestwich, was left
alone. Although his father was a man of culture,
he had little interest in science : but it was from him,
doubtless, that Joseph Prestwich inherited his artistic
power and fastidiousness in matters of taste. Collec-
tions of specimens of minerals, &c., which had grown

102 - ^CrVlL" F&ESTWICH. [1857.

in bulk in Mark Lane,1 of course accompanied him,
the fossils and sands and clays going, as we can
believe, without regret on the part of the worthy old
housekeeper. Civil Prestwich was ten years younger
than her brother, and they had a joint home until
her death in 1866. She at once became his secretary
and amanuensis, devoting her whole time to the fur-
therance of his scientific work, freeing his mind and
time from all the wear and tear of petty distractions.
He was eminently domestic : instead of the solitary
City sitting-room and that daily Spartan fare, he had
now all the comforts of a happy home. Civil was
capable and intelligent, and under our geologist's
guidance rough manuscripts were transcribed, registers
were kept ; and a folio volume of references which lies
open before us is entirely in her handwriting, and is
a model of method and order. There are four columns
—for England, France, Europe, and other parts of the
world — and the authors quoted imply a wide range of
research, although chiefly on Eocene, Miocene, and later
Tertiary geology. They include also subjects which
were discussed in subsequent writings, such as Raised
Beaches, Drift, Boulder Clay, Glacial Action, River
Deltas, Wear and Tear of Land, Caves, Temperatures
of Mines, &c., and Theoretical and Cosmical Geology.

J. Prestwich to Sir Charles Lyell.

2 SUFFOLK LANE, 2nd January 1857.

MY DEAR SIR CHARLES, — The question is a difficult one. If
Forbes is right in his synchronism of the Hempstead Beds with
the Fontainebleau Sands, then I do not see where to draw the
line of demarcation between those beds and the Barton Clays.

1 The business house was subsequently 2 Suffolk Lane, Cannon Street,
and, about the year 1862, 69 Mark Lane.

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2ET. 45.] CORRELATION OF TERTIARY STRATA. 103

I am, however, not yet quite satisfied on the question of parallel-
ism, nor is it one on which I would venture on a positive opinion
without the few months' research I hope to be able to devote to
it this summer. At present, however, I am inclined strongly to
place the Gres de Fontainebleau in the Eocene period.

I think it will be a great pity to break up these great time
divisions into small sections. Let us have, if they like, Lower,
Middle, and Upper Eocene, and Miocene, &c., but not a multitude
of terms founded on that base. . . . — Yours very truly,

J. PRESTWICH.

J. Prestwich to Sir Charles Lyell.

[14] CLIFTON ROAD EAST [ST JOHN'S WOOD], 12th Jany. 1857.

MY DEAR SIR CHARLES,— The pressure of business, of family
engagements, and a visit to consult various books on the subject
of your inquiry, have been the cause of too long a delay in
answering your last notes.

The correlation by Forbes of the Hempstead series with those
of Limburg seems correct enough, but the English beds are so
much related to those beneath the Belgian beds also, tho' possibly
to a lesser extent; whilst, according to Hebert and others, the
Gres de Fontainebleau is so little, or is rather so very distinct, —
that I cannot yet feel quite satisfied that there is not an error
somewhere or other.

I cannot reconcile myself to the association in the same time-
division of the Faluns of Touraine and the Fontainebleau Sands.
It is true that if the former are to be excluded, the Miocene
period becomes reduced to very narrow limits, or rather ex-
hibition, in France and England ; but then there is the point to
which you allude, whether in other parts of Europe we may not
find the time marks, the strata of that period. I think we must.

If the Miocene has yet to have its limits defined, and the
Fontainebleau Sands are to be considered as the commencement
of a new period of change, then I think we must look elsewhere
than in the French Faluns for the maximum development of its
peculiar types. I should not at all object in that way to take
the Fontainebleau Sands as Lower Miocene, filling up the centre
and top with German or yet to be discovered beds, but then I
should feel inclined to take the Faluns of Touraine as part of

104 CORRELATION OF TERTIARY STRATA. [l857.

another time stage. I was not at all satisfied from what I saw
at Bordeaux of the connection there said by some to exist be-
tween the equiv. of the F. Sands and the Faluns. The Fal.
of Leognan are said to underlie certain freshwater limestones
said to be synchr. with those of La Brise" — this was not at all
clear to me. One fact was very [clear], that the Fal. of Sancats
did overlie that limestone, and that the latter probably overlaid
the Font. Sands ; but then between the limestone and the Sancats
Fal. I found no passage — on the contrary, I found a marked
division. The limestone was all fresh-water, and its surface was
worn and covered with the holes of boring molluscs. I think this
had not been noticed before. . . . With regard to the other
questions you ask me, I think the Barton Beds at Barton form
quite an exceptional state of things. I have shown in my last
paper that that series is exceptionally a sandy series, and that
the clays set in in places, and I take the Headon Hill Sands
as rather the type than the exception. Certainly the line should
not, I think, be drawn between the Barton Clays and the Headon
Hill Sands. I think I shall draw my next sub-line at the base
of the old Upper Marine, but to this point I have not yet come.

I am most anxious to see Forbes's work on the Isle of Wight,
to study more accurately the fossil evidence he has based his
divisions upon. I hope shortly to have more leisure to resume
geology and to attend to treasurership duties. In the meantime I
am snatching a few moments to get a paper ready for the next
meeting. The subject will, I think, interest you, " Crag on the
North Downs." — Yours very sincerely, J. PEESTWICH.

J. Prestwich to the Same. SUFFOLK LANE, Monday, 9th Feb. 1857.

MY DEAR SIR CHARLES, — I do object very much to placing the
Sables de Bracheux on the parallel of the Thanet Sands. It is
possible, however, that the latter may come into some part of
the French area ; and in mineral character there would be so
little to distinguish them that they would all pass under the
name of the G-lauconie Infe'rieure, but I think they would be found
to pass under the S. de B.

I know of no solid argument adduced by Hebert. It is a
point I worked out with great care, and it was only after a
long time that I obtained evidence to be depended upon. It

Photo by Elliott & Fry.

SIR JOHN EVANS, K.C.B.

JET. 45.] MR JOHN EVANS. 105

could not be done in France — the evidence is wanting. At
Kichborough the one distinctly overlies the other. See my first
paper on the " Correlation of the French and English Tertiaries."
There are a few species in common, but the bulk are different.
— In haste, ever truly yours, J. PRESTWICH.

Before the date of the annexed note Joseph Prest-
wich made the acquaintance in the railway carriage
of a fellow-traveller who had likewise been summoned
as a witness, though on the opposite side, of a cause
set down for trial at the Kingston Assizes with regard
to a water question at Croydon. They had travelled
to Kingston in the same carriage without interchange
of a word ; but, as for some reason the trial did not
come off that day, they found themselves in the after-
noon again in the same railway carriage, when they
entered into conversation and found that they had
many interests in common. This was our geologist's
first meeting with Mr John Evans of Nash Mills,
Hemel Hempstead, who in a letter to the writer re-
marks : "I took a great liking for him, and I think
that he did not dislike me, and the result was that
I called on him in Mark Lane and he returned the
visit at Nash Mills, and thus began a friendship which
lasted forty years, and which most materially influ-
enced the course of my life. I cannot at present call
to mind the exact year of our meeting, but our friend-
ship was already of some standing when in 1857 he
introduced me to the Geological Society." Much
pleasant field-work was afterwards accomplished by
the two friends, and when they differed on geological
questions — as differ they did — it never caused the
slightest abatement nor estrangement of the brotherly
affection which had grown up between them, and which
was ever the same to the end.

106 DR J. D. HOOKER. [1857-58.

J. Prestwich to J. Evans. LONDON, Oct. 24/57.

MY DEAR SIR, — Elephants appear to have been common at
Bedford in former days. Last year, or the year before, the bones
apparently of a whole herd were found in the railway cutting a
few miles north of the town. I have that place in view for a
trip next season, and shall be glad if we can manage it together.
— With kind regards to Mrs Evans, I am ever truly yours,

Jos. PRESTWICH.

My trip to the Alps is still in nubibus, as probably the Alps
themselves now are.

Dr J. D. Hooker to J. Prestwicli. KEW, Sunday [1857].

DEAR MR PRESTWICH, — I am very much obliged for your in-
teresting, and to me most instructive, lectures to the Clapham
Athenaeum.

I have had the Reading leaves in my mind very often, and
saw Dr De la Harpe when he was here. He failed in persuading
me of the correctness of his views, from what in such cases is
too much the inevitable cause, namely, the preoccupation of my
mind with my own conclusions !

I cannot see even a probability (much less an evidence) of any
of the leaves being referable to laurels, Sapindacese, Eugenias,
Rhus, and Cassia, all of which Dr De la Harpe does not seem to
regard as tropical families, which they most eminently are. It is
true that some species of each are extra-tropical, but plenty of
species of the European trees (amongst which I would prefer to
seek analogues for the Eeading leaves) are also subtropical and
tropical.

No. 51 of your woodcuts can have nothing to do with Rhus,
though as species of Rhus have both simple and compound leaves
of all shapes and many varieties of nervation and texture, it
would be difficult to find a looser or less tangible affinity.

With regard to 52, which he refers to fig or mulberry, it would
be difficult to find a leaf that could not be compared with some
fig or other of the 200 or 300 known species of that genus ;
and as figs are eminently tropical and mulberries temperate
plants, nothing could be more vague than such an identification.

VET. 45-46.] EOCENE PLANTS. 107

The long and short is that De la Harpe's conclusions do really
indicate a very tropical flora. The one thing that De la Harpe
and I agree in is that the leaves do belong to the very commonest
forms in the vegetable kingdom of dicot. plants. — Believe me, ever
most truly yours, Jos. D. HOOKER.

Besides " The Ground beneath Us," only one paper
was contributed in 1857, namely, that " On some
Fossiliferous Iron Sandstone occurring in the North
Downs," and this under a slightly modified title was
published during the following year.

J. Prestwich to Dr [Sir] Joseph D. Hooker.

CANTERBURY, Janry. 30/58.

DEAR DR HOOKER, — I am much obliged by your criticisms on
my observations about the Heading leaves. You have, I suppose,
seen Dr De la Harpe's paper recently published in the Bulln.
Soc. Vaudoise. I feel that further evidence is necessary, and
must try if the Heading cutting is still accessible. They were at
work in the bed in a side cutting last spring. Could you pos-
sibly manage to run down some warm spring day, for the work is
too sedentary for this weather ? I should much like to go down
with you. The leaves are most abundant, and you might see
much that might escape me. First of all, however, I should
very much like to look into the evidence myself to the small
extent that I may venture by the inspection of the forms of
leaves under your guidance. My sister also wants to look at
some forms of ferns and a palm (?) that can be associated for
cultivation in our smoky atmosphere — not as a botanist, but for
the pleasantness of green leaves and beauty of form. We pur-
pose, then, visiting Kew Gardens some Saturday (now a compara-
tively leisure day with me), and if you could kindly spare me an
hour or two to put me in the way of looking right and at the
right things, I shall feel particularly obliged. I shall be in town
again after Tuesday, and am yours most truly,

Jos. PRESTWICH.

The following letter from the veteran geologist, Mr

108 THE GROUND BENEATH US. [l858.

Leonard Horner, father of Lady Lyell, expresses his
interest in our geologist's work : —

L. Horner to J. Prestwich. MANCHESTER, 7th March 1858.

MY DEAK PRESTWICH, — It is only within the last three days
that I have had an opportunity of reading " The Ground Beneath
Us." Here in the evening, when the spinning -jennies are at
rest, and when there are few temptations of parties and learned
societies, I get through some very agreeable reading, as we gener-
ally bring with us a good supply of books. I do not know when
I have read anything geological that has pleased me so much as
these three lectures. In a clear attractive style you have de-
scribed the great and minute features of the area, not in the
least descending to what is commonly called " a popular view,"
but a masterly sketch, that must be perfectly intelligible to every
educated person who for the first time has had geological pheno-
mena placed before him, and embracing those great generalisa-
tions which must awaken the deepest interest and wonder.

You will do a great service to the cause of philosophical truth,
will awaken a widespread interest in geology, especially among
those living in the district you describe, — you will give a death-
blow among them to the nonsense of Mosaic geology now so
widely disseminated, if you will publish these lectures, not by
Van Voorst, but by some publisher of extensive connections,
such as Longmans or Murray. You have no occasion to add any-
thing. I would omit from the title-page "being three lectures
on," &c., down to " 1856." You can tell this in a brief preface.
If you will do this, the little volume will be translated, I have
no doubt, both in French and German. It would be best in
12mo, and the two plates might fold lengthways. The only
criticism I have to make is to request you to consider what you
say at p. 77, that the alterations in the proportions of sea and
land could not cause a heat sufficient for the tropical organisms
of the London Clay, by reading again Lyell's chapters on Climate
in the last edition of his ' Principles.'

But I have not done with you : follow up the sketch with a
volume fully descriptive of the same period. You say, p. 37, " I
could have said much more." I hope you will say all you have
to say. — Yours faithfully, LEONARD HORNER.

JET

. 46.] LEONARD HORNER. 109

The above letter revives happy personal recollections
of Mr Horner, whose kindliness and steady friendliness
made a deep impression on the writer. Mrs Horner
died at Florence on the 22nd May 1862, and about a
month later a copy was sent from there of the pathetic
inscription on her tombstone in the Protestant ceme-
tery. The last lines run :—

" Thus do we walk with her, and keep unbroken

The bond which Nature gives ;
Thinking that our remembrance, though unspoken,
May reach her where she lives."

The little message in his handwriting in the corner
of the paper — "with much regard, L. H." — has been a
prized memento of both. In less than two years he
had rejoined her, his death having taken place early
in March 1864. Mr Horner had been twice elected
President of the Geological Society.

110

CHAPTER V.

1858-1859.

BEIXHAM CAVE — FLINT IMPLEMENTS — VISITS TO
ABBEVILLE — GOWER CAVES.

PRESTWICH'S attention for some time had been occupied
with fossiliferous deposits in the Drift and with raised
beaches, his investigations of the latter leading to those
wide generalisations which later he was to give the
world in a series of papers to the Royal Society. As
a whole, his work had been chiefly in stratigraphical
geology : he had worked out in detail the structure of
the London and Hampshire basins as no one else had
done, and he had made himself the chief geological
authority on water-supply. But his powers were now
to be directed to a new field of research, in which he
became an acknowledged pioneer, and which brought
about a complete revolution of modern thought re-
garding the antiquity of the human race. In this
new inquiry his extraordinary memory was of especial
service. He never forgot what he had observed and
written, so as years went on and fresh discoveries
threw further light on unsettled questions, this gift
of memory enabled him to bring all his accumulated
knowledge to bear upon the subject immediately under
consideration.

DK HUGH FALCONER, F.R.S.

JET. 46.] HUGH FALCONER. Ill

In his researches now on the antiquity of man, he
went hand in hand with his friend, Dr Hugh Falconer,1
who two or three years before had returned to England
from a long career in the East, where for a time he had
been director of the Botanic Gardens at Saharunpore,
and subsequently of those at Calcutta. It was, how-
ever, as a paleontologist that Hugh Falconer was best
known, and as joint author with Sir Proby Cautley of
a work on the fossil fauna of the Sewalik Hills, the
' Fauna Antiqua Sivalensis.'

Ossiferous caves had from time to time been dis-
covered in England, but after the publication of Dr
Buckland's 'Reliquiae Diluvianae' in 1823, the subject
long ceased to attract attention. Falconer and Prest-
wich were, however, cognisant of the fact that the
fossil contents of several caverns had been crowded
together pell-mell in local museums, occasionally with-
out any label to show where they had been found.

Both palaeontologist and geologist were keenly alive
to the importance of carefully working out any cave
evidence, and the opportunity they sought soon offered
for the systematic excavation of the contents of a
cavern.

On the 10th of May 1858, Dr Falconer addressed
a letter to the Secretary of the Geological Society of
London, announcing the discovery of a new and un-
disturbed cave on Windmill Hill overhanging Brixham
village, near Torquay. It was situated on a slope in
the same tract of Devonian limestone in which the
caverns of Kent's Hole, Anstey's Cove, Chudleigh, and
Berry Head are found. Mr Philp, a dyer, had bought
the site with the intention of utilising the limestone
and building cottages, when, in November 1857, a small
hole was detected in quarrying. Further work revealed

1 Born February 29, 1808 ; died January 31, 1865.

112 BRIXHAM CAVE. [l858.

a wider opening, and in the spring of 1858 the work-
men were no longer in doubt but that they had come
upon the entrance of a cave with branches. Dr Falconer
urged that, as the fossil contents of several important
English caves had been extracted without care or atten-
tion, and had been scattered piecemeal, the Council
should take immediate steps to prevent this being
repeated in the case of the Brixham cave, and should
arrange for systematic investigation.

The consequence of this letter was, that a recom-
mendatory resolution was passed by the Council of the
Geological Society, with the result that " the Royal
Society, on May 13th, gave a grant of £100 towards
the exploration of the cave in the manner suggested
by Dr Falconer. Miss Burdett - Coutts contributed
£50 towards the same object. At Dr Falconer's sug-
gestion, a committee was appointed to carry the design
into effect. The committee consisted of Professor
Ramsay, Mr Prestwich, Sir Charles Lyell, Professor
Owen, Mr Beckles, the Rev. R. Everest, and Mr
Godwin - Austen. Dr Falconer was entrusted with
laying down the plan and giving the instructions upon
which the exploration was to be conducted, and the
works were carried on under the immediate superin-
tendence of Mr Pengelly. The fossil remains were
identified by Dr Falconer. On the 9th September
1858 a report on the progress of the operations, drawn
up by Professor Ramsay, Mr Pengelly, and Dr Falconer,
was submitted to the General Committee, and by them
was forwarded to the Royal Society, which, from the
importance of the results already elicited, voted an
additional sum of £100 to prosecute the inquiry."
Almost immediately afterwards Dr Falconer was com-
pelled to proceed to the south of Europe on account

JET. 46.] BBIXHAM CAVE. 113

of his health, but the explorations were continued with
unflagging energy and enthusiasm by Mr Pengelly.1

Prestwich heartily co-operated with Falconer, and
approved of all the steps taken. Several years later,
owing to the death of Hugh Falconer, at the request of
the General Committee he drew up the final report on
Brixham Cave. The excavations in it yielded rude
flint implements of human workmanship, associated
with the fossil bones of Pleistocene mammalia, thus
indicating the presence of early man.

It may not be out of place here to transcribe the
following letter, which was published in the first
volume of the ' Geologist ' (p. 252). It shows the
interest with which the discoveries in Brixham Cave
were welcomed, and its date almost coincides with that
of Dr Falconer's letter to the Geological Society : —

To the Editor of the ' Geologist.' [10] KENT TERRACE, llth May 1858.

SIR, — Amongst the many interesting problems we have to in-
vestigate, and that are, now in particular, attracting the attention
of geologists, is that which relates to the character of the fauna
inhabiting this land during some of the later geological periods.
Those only who have worked at this subject can form any idea
of the vast number of elephants, rhinoceroses, oxen, deer, &c.,
which must, at more than one period, have flourished in this
country on surfaces now buried beneath drift and gravel. Occa-
sionally their bones are met with in very large quantities, but
their distribution is very irregular and uncertain. The fact of
their occurrence, however, frequently remains unknown beyond
the place where the discovery is made, and the knowledge of
such facts is too often lost or forgotten for want of a convenient
and ready record.2 Your pages could afford, sir, exactly the

1 Palaeontological Memoirs : Hugh Falconer, vol. ii. p. 486.

2 "There is a case in point in another communication I have sent you.
In that instance I happened to visit a gravel-pit, opened only temporarily,
and find remains of elephants, of which no record would have been pre-
served but for my chance visit. See ' Geologist,' vol. i. p. 252."

H

114 FOSSIL MAMMALS. [1858.

facilities required. Thus it would be of great use, and I, for my
own part, should feel particularly obliged if any of your corre-
spondents in different parts of the country could furnish us with
information on this point. I would confine myself more especi-
ally to the occurrence of the bones of elephants (the teeth and
tusks being so easily recognised), although, at the same time, any
information respecting the bones of other animals would be very
acceptable ; and I would ask for a mention of their occurrence —
naming place, character of deposit, depth beneath the surface,
position, whether in valley or on hill, &c. Such information you
might tabulate monthly or quarterly, mentioning the authority.
Or what would form a still more valuable record would be, that
resident correspondents should each take a county, and give a
list of places where such remains are or have been found. We
particularly require information in this respect with reference to
Northumberland, Lancashire, Cumberland, Cheshire, and other
northern counties, although in the more southern counties the
same particulars are also in many cases equally required. An
additional interest now attaches to this subject, from the circum-
stance that there are indications of each different stage of this
Pleistocene period having been marked by different species of
elephant, &c. If these can be distinguished by the aid of Dr
Falconer's forthcoming paper in the ' Quarterly Journal of the
Geological Society,' the information furnished will be the more
valuable. — I am, sir, yours truly, JOSEPH PKKSTWICH.

J. Prestwich to H. Falconer. 10 KENT TERRACE, 7/5/58.

MY DEAR DR FALCONER, — I twice had Lartet's paper in my
pocket to call on you with it, but was both times prevented by
business. I should much like to hear more of your Western
progress, and will take an early opportunity to call on you, if
possible, before I leave town on Thursday. I shall be at the
Koyal Society to-morrow evening. If I do not see you there, I
will try to call on you at 5J on Monday.

I am the more anxious to hear what you have seen in Devon
as I am going there shortly, after first a visit to Eouen, Paris, and
Brussels, and intend to visit Banwell and a few other places I
have not yet seen.

2ET. 46.] SWITZERLAND. 115

I was at Grays a short time since, and have made a good be-
ginning with the plants. I return there again in 2 or 3 weeks
to reap, I hope, a further harvest, having set all the people to
work, and Mr Meeson having kindly given all the necessary
orders to his workmen, and taken charge of all specimens. I
went also to Ilford for the same object, but at present without
success. I am going again, having a pit opened in the meantime.
—Yours very truly, J. PRESTWICH.

Our geologist's movements were so rapid that the
expedition to the Continent, and also that to Banwell
(in Somerset) and Grays (in Essex), were doubtless
made before he set out on the 2nd July 1858 on a
journey of exploration in the Swiss Alps, which ex-
tended over several weeks. He was not accompanied
by any English friend, but was frequently joined by
Swiss geologists. Much as he delighted in working
with friends and sharing with them his matured
views, yet, on new ground or in face of any unsolved
problem, he preferred to think out the difficulties
and every aspect of the case — alone.

The contents of a note-book for July and part of
August were intended to serve as data for projected
papers on glacial action.

The first few days were occupied with railway cut-
tings and in quarries in the neighbourhood of Neu-
chatel. Accompanied by M. Desor, the geologist, and
by M. de Pury, the husband of his cousin Henrietta
Blakeway, Prestwich visited the Val de Travers in the
Jura. The great stratified beds of gravel on the way
to Berne were of special interest, and M. Studer pointed
out to him the most striking geological features in its
vicinity.

At Basle he had the advantage of the society and
advice of another eminent Swiss geologist, M. Peter

116 SWITZERLAND. [l858.

Merian, where the roughly stratified gravel over the
flats adjoining the Rhine engaged his attention. The
geology of Bex is given in a few sentences, which are
followed by a striking outline of Les Diablerets with
numerous notes. It was probably on this occasion that
he paid the visit at Gryon to M. Renevier, the eminent
Professor of Geology at Lausanne, who guided him to
Anzeindaz (Alpes Vaudoises), at the foot of the Diab-
lerets, where our geologist made a collection of choice
little Eocene fossils. Professor Renevier writes that in
returning they were overtaken by rain, and arrived at
Gryon completely drenched. Chamouni was afterwards
Prestwich's headquarters, whence, day after day, ac-
companied by a guide, he went from glacier to glacier,
never attempting any great ascent. He had looked
longingly at certain boulders near the Talefre glacier,
where, " perched on the top of this cliff, are several
blocks of granite — one just on the edge of the cliff.
Could not get at them to see whether foreign to the
place." He was intent on ascertaining the rate of
movement of the ice, the origin of the boulders, and the
composition of the moraine gravels.

The numerous notes and sections give the altitude
of the moraines of different years, the smoothening or
polishing of granite blocks — whether sharp or rounded,
angular or sub-angular, or striated — observations on
ice-action in every phase, which would chiefly interest
an Alpine geologist familiar with the high Alps. One
sketch is that of the " ^Iboulement " of Les Mossons,
which spreads over half the valley now covered with
fields and houses. A guide refers it " au temps du
Deluge." Visits to St Gervais and to Sallanches ended
this tour in Switzerland.

On his return to England it was to find that the

MT. 46.] CAVERN RESEARCHES. 117

results obtained from the excavations at Brixham were
of much importance. In writing to Falconer on 14th
September 1858, he suggests that another cavern
might well be explored, " such for example as one on
the Welsh coast, or a portion of Kent's Cavern, or
100 yards square of some bone-strewed surface gravel,
such as a section of the rich bone-bearing gravel at
Bedford, or Brentford, or Clacton, or Herne Bay, or
Bracklesham, or many others."

The caution expressed in this next letter is char-
acteristic :—

/. Prestwich to H. Falconer. LONDON, 21s« Septr. 1858.

MY DEAR DR FALCONER, — I have to-day read the report and
returned it to Earnsay. It will do very well for the London
Committee, or the Eoy. Soc., but for my own part I should not
like to have it read at the Brit. Assoc. A report of that sort
conies with a degree of might and authority which a short notice
would not have. The statement you make with regard to
human industrial remains is one likely to give rise to so much
controversy, and is one which you make so distinctly, that I
do not like to see it embodied in a report which may be sup-
posed to express the opinions of the several members of the
Committee, and in which I see my name introduced.

Now, although you have so good a case with regard to occur-
rence and position of the worked flints, I yet hesitate to accept
the conclusions, and many others will probably do the same.
There may be possibilities of mistake which further working
may serve to correct, or on the other hand further workings
may bring to light other facts tending to prove indisputably
the remarkable association you allude to.

I quite agree with you that there is now much evidence tend-
ing in the same direction — so much that there is hope that,
if true, it may receive some unmistakable corroboration : but
until we have that, and that I have myself worked on the ground
and looked at all the bearings, I hesitate and wait. — My dear Dr
Falconer, yours very truly, J. PRESTWICH.

118 FOLKESTONE. [l858.

In a note to Falconer, dated 28th September, he
remarks : —

I am glad you have been to Folkestone. The bones there
were in brick-earth or gravel. Those at Dover in chalk rubble.
I should fear from what you say and what I have seen that
the ruminants are in a state of confusion. It is not surprising,
considering that all the Drift deposits have commonly been
shovelled together into one dirt heap. — Ever yours truly,

J. PRESTWICH.

Another letter, dated " Tuesday," refers to the
Folkestone fossils.

J. Prestwich to H. Falconer.

See ' Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc./ vol. vii. p. 261. You will there
find a paper by Mackie on a Pleistocene deposit at Folkestone,
and among the fossils the hippopotamus and megaceros.

Is it possible that the hippopotamus of these late Pleistocene
deposits is of the same species as that of the Norfolk coast ?

With regard to Shorncliffe, I heard of it too late to visit it.
Intending, however, to go, I made inquiries about the where-
abouts, and found that although the bones came last from Shorn-
cliffe they came first from Folkestone. It is, in fact, the same
bed as described by Mackie, and was reopened in enlarging
or repairing some of the works connected with the small fort
above the Pavilion. The collection is certainly of great interest.
— Ever truly yours, J. PRESTWICH.

Three of his geological papers appeared this year,
the most important being that on the westward ex-
tension of the Old Raised Beach of Brighton. It
was significant of work to be done in the future.

But the incident for which 1858 is to be noted
was the receipt by Prestwich of a letter from Hugh
Falconer, written from Abbeville, when on his way
to Sicily for the winter. The results to which it led

M. BOUCHER DE PERTHES.

JET. 46.] BOUCHER DE PERTHES. 119

were so important, bringing about so suddenly a re-
volution of opinion in the scientific world, that we
transcribe it in full : —

H. Falconer to J. Prestwich. ABBEVILLE, 1st Nov. 1858.

MY DEAR PRESTWICH, — As the weather continued fine, I de-
termined on coming here to see Boucher de Perthes' collection.
I advised him of my intention from London, and my note luckily
found him in the neighbourhood. He good-naturedly came in to
receive me, and I have been richly rewarded. His collection of
wrought flint implements and of the objects of every description
associated with them far exceeds anything I expected to have
seen, especially from a single locality. He had made great
additions, since the publication of his first volume, in the second
— which I have now by me. He showed me "flint" hatchets
which lie had dug up with his oiim hands mixed indiscriminately
with the molars of E. primigenius. I examined and identified
plates of the molars — and the flint objects, which were got along
with them. Abbeville is an out-of-the-way place, very little
visited, and the French savants who meet him in Paris laugh at
Monsieur de Perthes and his researches. But after devoting the
greater part of a day to his vast collection, I am perfectly satis-
fied that there is a great deal of fair presumptive evidence in
favour of many of his speculations regarding the remote anti-
quity of these industrial objects, and their association with
animals now extinct. Monsieur Boucher's hotel is from ground-
floor to garret a continued museum filled with pictures, medieval
art, and Gaulish antiquities, including antediluvian flint knives,
fossil bones, &c. If, during next summer, you should happen to
be paying a visit to France, let me strongly recommend you to
come to Abbeville. You could leave the following morning by
an 8 A.M. train to Paris, and I am sure you would be richly
rewarded. You are the only English geologist I know of who
would go into the subject con amore. I am satisfied that English
geologists are much behind the indications of the materials now
in existence relative to this walk of post - glacial geology, and
you are the man to bring up the leeway. Boucher de Perthes
is a very courteous elderly French gentleman, the head of an

120 BBIXHAM CAVE. [l859.

old and affluent family, and, if you wrote to him beforehand, he
would feel your visit a compliment and treat it as such.

I saw no flint specimens in his collection so completely
whitened through and through as our flint knives — and nothing
exactly like the mysterious hatchet which I made up of the two
pieces. What I have seen here gives me still greater impulse
to persevere in our Brixham exploration. . . . — Yours very
truly, H. FALCONER.

The following letter, which is dated London, 4th
February 1859, and refers to Brixham Cave, is ad-
dressed to Falconer, who was then in Palermo :—

J. Prestwich to H. Falconer.

MY DEAR FALCONER, — . . . Austen is satisfied that the flint
instruments occur with the bones. After my last visit I cannot
deny it, but still I am not satisfied without seeking every other
possible explanation besides that of contemporaneous existence.
None of the evidence which has come before me during the last
ten years has appeared to me conclusive, and now we have an
opportunity of settling the question more satisfactorily, we can-
not be too cautious.

Austen and I spent a day at the cave, and left Bristow 1 there
to take a plan and sections. This was in November. From
several causes we have not yet reed, these documents, but we
are now positively promised them. I understand they were not
quite finished. When we have them before us we shall, now we
have the money in hand, decide how next to proceed. The works
have not been interrupted except for a week at Christmas. For
some weeks past but little has been found — the greater part of
the loam has been removed, and we are down to the gravel.
After our visit in November we decided not to purchase the
adjoining right of search. It was a gallery traversing the next
quarry, and the greater part of [which] was worked away. We
have plenty to do in the body of the hill. We left instructions
to have all the bones packed up and sent to the Geological

1 H. W. Bristow, F.R.S., in later years Director of the Geological Survey
of England and Wales ; born 1817, died 1889.

Mi. 47-] CAVES NEAR PALERMO. 121

Society. They are not yet arrived. Pengelly has so much to
do, and is, poor fellow, just now greatly troubled by the failing
health of a daughter. We had an interview with Vivian, which
ended amicably, and by his consenting to withhold the publication
of his notes on Kent's Cave, to which are appended numerous
notes respecting the Brixham Cave. Austen and I do not exactly
agree about our report ; but nothing less will satisfy rne than a
full and complete examination of every part of the cave (now
worked), the emptying to the very bottom of everything in the
several galleries.

I am very glad you stopped at Abbeville, and am thereby fully
confirmed to visit that locality at an early opportunity, and, as
you suggest, to make the acquaintance of M. Boucher de Perthes.
I trust you are enjoying fine weather, good health, and many
caves. — Believe me, my dear Falconer, very truly yours,

Jos. PKESTWICH.

The wish expressed in the last sentence of the above
letter with regard to caves was literally fulfilled. It
found Falconer at Palermo in ecstasy about his dis-
covery of flint implements associated with fossil bones
in the cave of Maccagnone. He was also zealously
engaged in making collections of hippopotamus teeth,
which lay scattered in great quantity, with a few
molars and bones of other extinct animals, outside the
" Grotto di San Giro" or "Mare Dolce," near Palermo,
and where the women and children gathered them on
the field in front of the cave in the intervals between
his daily visits. It was a comical scene when an
infant in arms, prompted by its mother, held out a
tooth of hippopotamus to Dr Falconer, clasped by its
tiny fingers. On one occasion forty-two mothers and
children awaited his arrival, each provided with spoil.
The mothers thought themselves liberally rewarded
with a few quattrini, the smallest Sicilian coin.

April was the date in 1859 when Prestwich pro-

122 BOUCHER DE PERTHES. [l859.

ceeded to Abbeville to make the acquaintance of
M. Boucher de Perthes, whom he found a hale, hearty
septuagenarian, enthusiastic, as well he might be, about
his collection of flint implements. In France he was
well known as an antiquary and archaeologist and a
voluminous writer of light literature, — perhaps no man
was ever more possessed by the cacoethes scribendi,—
yet in England few had ever heard mention of his
name. Although not a geologist, his name is so
inseparably associated with the discovery of flint im-
plements in beds of Quaternary age in France, that
a few notes to recount his discoveries may not be
out of place.

With a far-seeing sagacity which cannot but excite
our admiration, M. de Perthes had predicted the cer-
tainty of his finding traces of man in the gravels of the
Abbeville and Amiens district, and had during several
years closely watched the excavations for the construc-
tion of a canal at Abbeville. Hence when in 1846 he
announced the discovery of an ancient flint imple-
ment in gravel of the " Drift," associated with bones
of elephant, rhinoceros, and other extinct animals,
and when again in 1849 he asserted that numbers of
rudely worked and chipped flint implements had been
found with remains of extinct mammalia in the same
undisturbed beds of gravel, geologists gave no heed to
his announcement, and he was regarded as an amiable
visionary. He challenged his countrymen to put his
startling theory of so high an antiquity for his flint
weapons to the test and make excavations for them-
selves in unbroken ground, but he was only laughed
at. Dr Rigollot of Amiens appears to have been the
one person in France who came forward expressing
his dissent from the universal unbelief. He had been

&l. 47.] ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 123

a vehement opposer of the views of M. de Perthes
until he had personally examined the ground and the
evidence, when his opinions underwent a complete
change, and he became one of the strongest advocates
for the recognition of the worked flints.

Throughout the whole of this famous inquiry, which
had been prompted by that letter of 1st November,
1858, from Hugh Falconer, with characteristic gener-
osity the latter invariably assigned the precedence to
Prestwich, saying, " What I did was to stir up the
embers of your interest in the matter into a quick
flame."

In a chapter on " Primeval Man and his Contem-
poraries," 1 Falconer remarks of MM. de Perthes and
Eigollot, that—

The observations of both were either scorned or discredited.
At the same time a quiet observer, of matchless sagacity and
indomitable perseverance, Mr Prestwich, was making the Gravels
in England an object of special investigation. Engaged during a
long course of years upon the study of the European Tertiaries,
he gradually worked his way up to the superficial deposits. Mr
Prestwich's researches upon the Tertiaries, which have only been
partially published, have earned for him the reputation of being
one of the ablest geological observers of his time. But in the
Quaternary sands and gravels he was unrivalled. Men have
been in the habit of saying, in mingled earnest and raillery, that
" point out a broken pebble amongst a thousand others in a gravel
pit, and there is one who will tell you the point of the compass
from which it came, the stratum which yielded it, the distance
it had travelled, the amount of rolling it had undergone, and the
time it had occupied in the journey." The power thus acquired
was soon to be applied with clenching authority to the proofs of
the antiquity of man yielded by those deposits.

On his memorable visit to Abbeville in April, Prest-

1 Hugh Falconer : ' Palseont. Memoirs,' vol. ii. p. 584.

124 AMIENS AND ABBEVILLE. [l859.

wich had been joined a few hours after arrival by
Evans ; l and next day, on account of a telegram re-
ceived, they went together to Amiens, where they saw
an implement in situ in the gravel, and had the section
photographed. The great caution exercised by our
geologist in accepting no evidence except that which
he had himself personally investigated was proverbial.
In this case his decision was quickly made. On the
26th of May — one month after his arrival at Amiens
— his great paper, " On the Occurrence of Flint-imple-
ments, associated with Remains of Animals of Extinct
Species in Beds of a Late Geological Period, in France
at Amiens and Abbeville, and in England at Hoxne,"
was read before the Royal Society.

Before the completion of this memoir he made a
second expedition to the Abbeville district, accompanied
by Messrs Godwin -Austen, J. Wickham Flower, and
R. W. Mylne. This again was followed by a brief visit
from Sir Charles Lyell, who happened to be in Paris at
the same time.

Sir C. Lyell to J. Prestwick.

45 RUE DE PONTHIETT, Mli April [May ?].

MY DEAR PRESTWICH, — I will be in time for the 4 P.M. train,
and shall have an opportunity of talking over what you have
seen at Joinville as we go to Precy together, and compare notes,
as I have already seen C. D'Orbigny's section.

I shall go direct to Amiens, as I cannot stand getting there in
the middle of the night. It would unfit me for next day's work
at Amiens. In case your letters prevent you starting, I may say
that I shall go at any rate to Amiens to the Hotel de France et
d'Angleterre.

I shall hope at any rate to have the journey together to Precy
and to work next morning at Amiens. — Ever most truly yours,

CHA. LYELL.

1 Now Sir John Evans, K.C.B.

.ET,

. 47.] HOXNE. 125

J. Prestwich to J. Evans. LONDON, istk May 1859.

MY DEAR EVANS, — I shall be restless until I visit Hoxne,
especially as I wish to see it before my paper is read (which
must be next week, if at all). So I want you to be so good as
let me postpone my visit for a day or two. Cannot you come to
Hoxne with me next Saturday at 3 P.M. and return on Monday
evening? At all events I will, if convenient to you, take an
early afternoon train to Nash Mills on Tuesday and report pro-
gress, and return on Wednesday morning. I should then equally
see you and have the pleasure of the introduction which you
promised me. I would have gone to Hoxne last Saturday, but
did not like going there without you if possible, so I went en
attendant to Salisbury, but without any success.

I have found out three brick pits at or near Hoxne, and hope
to find traditions of the discovery and to have a trench dug on
the right spot. — I am, ever truly yours, Jos. PRESTWICH.

I enclose you two letters just received from M. de Perth es. I
shall want a few lines from you for the Eoyal. . . .

This expedition to Hoxne, in Suffolk, was the result
of Mr Evans having come across some flint implements
found there in the end of the last century by Mr John
Frere, F.R.S., — to be seen in the museum of the Society
of Antiquaries. Mr Evans's attention had at the time
also been called by the late Sir A. Wollaston Franks
to a flint implement found in Gray's Inn Lane, and
preserved in the British Museum, and of which he
(Mr Evans) gave notice in a paper to the Society of
Antiquaries. This flint implement is notable as being
the first discovered in Quaternary gravels in this or
any other country. The paper was read on 2nd June
1859, a week after Prestwich's communication to the
Royal Society. This latter made a great sensation,
demonstrating as it did that a large portion of the
flints in M. de Perthes' collection were of human

126 FLINT IMPLEMENTS. [1859.

workmanship, and pointing out their undoubted geo-
logical position. We quote one or two passages from
the abstract of this paper : —

At Abbeville the author was much struck with the extent of
M. Boucher de Perthes' collection. There were many forms of
flints, in which he, however, failed to see traces of design and
work, and which he should only consider as accidental ; but with
regard to those flint-instruments termed " axes " (haches) by M.
de Perthes, he entertains not the slightest doubt of their artificial
make. They are of two forms, generally from 4 to 10 inches
long, . . . and were the work of a people probably unacquainted
with the use of metals. The author was not fortunate to find
any specimens himself,1 but from the experience of M. de Perthes,
and the evidence of the workmen, as well as from the condition
of the specimens themselves, he is fully satisfied of the correctness
of that gentleman's opinion, that they there also occur in beds
of undisturbed sand and gravel.2

With regard to the geological age of these beds, the author
refers them to those usually designated Post-Pliocene (Pleisto-
cene), and notices their agreement with many beds of that age in
England.

Finally, our geologist stated that he —

Purposely abstained for the present from all theoretical con-
siderations, confining himself to the corroboration of the facts : —

1. That the flint implements are the work of man.

2. That they were found in undisturbed ground.

3. That they are associated with the remains of extinct

mammalia.

1 This only refers to the large worked haches. On his first visit to Menche-
court, the day after his arrival at Abbeville, he was fortunate enough to
obtain in one excavation he had made to a depth of about 20 feet beneath
the surface, several fine flint flakes with large bulbs of percussion in a bed
with abundant remains of the mammoth and other extinct mammalia.

2 Subsequently, Prestwich was summoned by a telegram from Paris, to
which he responded by going to St Acheul, and finding an implement in
situ.

A CONFERENCE ON FLINT IMPLEMENTS.

Prof. JOHN MORRIS. F. E. EDWARDS.

JOSEPH PRESTWICH. SEARLES V. WOOD.

^T. 47.] ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 127

4. That the period was a late geological one, and anterior to
the surface assuming its present outline, so far as some
of its minor features are concerned.

He does not, however, consider that the facts as they at present
stand of necessity carry back man in past time more than they
bring forward the great extinct mammals towards our own
time, the evidence having reference only to relative and not
to absolute time ; and he is of opinion that many of the later
geological changes may have been sudden, or of shorter duration
than generally considered. In fact, from the evidence here ex-
hibited, and from all that he knows regarding Drift phenomena
generally, the author sees no reason against the conclusion that
this period of man and the extinct mammalia — supposing their
contemporaneity to be proved — was brought to a sudden end by
a temporary inundation of the land : on the contrary, he sees
much to support such a view on purely geological considerations.

Before writing this paper, Prestwich, together with
Mr Evans, had made a searching examination of the
flints and gravels of Amiens as well as of Abbeville.
Both being experts in different departments — one from
his practical knowledge of geology, especially of the
more recent deposits, and the other holding the fore-
most rank in archaeology — their joint opinion carried
great weight. Thus when their belief became public,
that M. de Perthes had made an important discovery,
and that a large proportion of the flint implements in
his collection were what he had claimed them to be,
men of science on both sides of the Channel cast away
their doubts and unbelief. Geologists hastened to
Abbeville to give their congratulations to M. Boucher
de Perthes, whose letters of this date, addressed to
Falconer and to Prestwich, are expressive of lively
gratitude. This gratitude, however, had previously
been tempered. It devolved on his English friends
to point out to M. de Perthes several spurious flint

128 FORGED IMPLEMENTS. [l859.

implements in his great collection, in the authenticity
of which he himself had implicit faith. These carefully
worked counterfeits lacked the vitreous glaze and the
staining of true implements, now termed " pakeolithic,"
which the dishonest fabricator had been unable to re-
produce. M. de Perthes had recklessly held out too
tempting rewards for every implement found, and had
probably paved the way for these forgeries which were
readily detected by the experts, but they did not for
a moment invalidate the evidence afforded by the many
genuine flint implements.

Among the letters addressed to Prestwich, none
throw more light on the questions which at that date
occupied the minds of geologists than those from Mr
Godwin-Austen. One more example is given in which is
expressed, as usual, his delightful sense of humour: —

R A. C. Godwin- Austen to J. Prestwich.

CHILWORTH, June 13 [1859 ?].

MY DEAR PRESTWICH, — I have two of yours unanswered : the
first is as to whether " Quaternary " would not be a better word
than "Post-Pliocene." Most decidedly so, for I hope to see
Eocene, Miocene, Pliocene, and all their degrees ere long banished
from geological nomenclature. Their introduction was a worse
event for geology than even De Beaumont's mountain-systems.

I could not get away on Saturday : an old schoolfellow, wife,
and children came here.

The Antiquity of Man question, in respect of which Owen now
has his say, is doomed to be damaged by bad evidence and worse
reasoning. I have long seen what the fate of the geologist would
be from the time that he allied himself with the anthroDologist

A. O

and antiquarian. Falconer and Evans are to us what the two
cunning Greeks were who conducted the fatal horse into Troy.

The only thing that can save us is to restrict us to the Silurian
system for a year or so. — Believe me, yours ever truly,

EGBERT A. C. GODWIN-AUSTEN.

J3T. 47.] BRIXHAM CAVE. 129

While Prestwich's researches in the valley of the
Somme had come to so successful an issue, he was ever
watchful of the evidence afforded by the excavations in
Brixham and other caverns, as will be seen by the
following letter :—

J. Prestwich to H. Falconer. [22nd June.]

MY DEAR FALCONER, — I have just received your note. Little
need be said about Brixham Cave, as your Palermo cave will be
the main business of the evening. Still I think some notice
desirable. It is not necessary to give all particulars — a slight
sketch will suffice. The subject is altogether new at the Society.
Ramsay's plan is quite sufficient to give a general idea of the
place, and an abstract of your first report will give all the main
points. I can speak about all the later facts (which are few),
and I have asked Austen to bring his report, and written to
Bristow to ask him for his. I think it important to bring all
forward, as the two cases you have discovered so strongly support
one another. — In haste, yours, &c. J. PRESTWICH.

In the Journal of the Geological Society it is stated
that-

On June 22, 1859, Joseph Prestwich, Esq., F.R.S., gave in a
few words the results of the examination of the Bone-cave at
Brixham in Devonshire.

The cave had been traced along three large galleries, meeting
or intersecting one another at right angles. Numerous bones of
Rhinoceros tichorhinus, Bos, Equus, Cervus tarandus, Ursus
spelceus, and Hycena have been found, and several flint-imple-
ments have been met with in the cave-earth and gravel beneath.
One in particular was met with immediately beneath a fine
antler of a Eeindeer and a bone of the Cave-bear, which were
imbedded in the superficial stalagmite in the middle of the cave.1

1 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xvi. p. 189. See also remarks on the
exploration of Brixham Cavern, in Appendix, by Prof. T. G. Bonney,
F.R.S., to the 'Memoir of William Pengelly,' by his Daughter, 1897, pp.
296-300.

130 BRIXHAM CAVE. [l859.

H. Falconer to J. Prestwich.

31 SACKVILLE STREET, W., 25th June 1859.

MY DEAR PRESTWICH, — Many thanks for both your kind
notes. I feel exceedingly obliged by the lively interest which
you have taken in the Brixham Cave matter throughout. It is
your cordial co-operation that has led to so much being effected.
If the special results as at present disclosed are not very striking,
the indirect consequences have been of great importance in
launching the question of the antiquity of human remains in a
fair and unprejudiced manner. Much attention will now be
directed to the subject everywhere, by inquirers of every shade
of belief, and we will arrive at the truth shortly. There is
nothing that you have done in the matter in which I would not
have joined. . . .

In the Maccagnone cave there was ample work for a pair of
collaborateurs for months. I pretend to have done nothing more
than score the first lines.

Many thanks for Vivian's edition of M'Enery. I have referred
to Desnoyer's paper, but can find notice only of bones on the
walls, not on the roof of the bone cavern.

We must make an effort to bring out the plates of M'Enery's
fossils, &c. If the Palseontographical will not do it, we must set
a subscription on foot. — Yours very truly, H. FALCONER.

J. Prestwich to H. Falconer. SUFFOLK LANE, 28th June 1859.

MY DEAR FALCONER, — Thanks for your note. I quite agree
with you that it is not the importance and beauty of the
specimens that constitute the value of the Brixham Cave. I
have constantly heard it objected that we have got but a poor
collection of specimens. No doubt Kent's Cave would yield a
richer store ; but that is a subordinate consideration. The great
object effected at Brixham is the complete and thorough exam-
ination of our cave, the number of the bones, the relative
number of each set and of each animal, their condition, their
place, &c., &c. Besides, there are all the sections and valuable
physical data obtained, and which could have been obtained
by no other means. So that if we cannot show fine specimens,

JST. 47.] FOSSIL ELEPHANTS. 131

we shall at all events be able to exhibit a yet more valuable,
because rarer, array of figures and facts. . . .

You will find a notice by Tournal of bones adhering to the
roof in the 2nd vol. ' Bull. Soc. Geol.,' p. 381 ; and again by
Teissier, same vol., pp. 22 and 56. Marcel de Serres also some-
where notices the same fact — I think in a cavern in the Pyrenees.
I will try and find out the reference.

On Saturday I was at Erith, where it seems to me the E.
primigenius and E. antiquus occur together. On Sunday I saw
only some Tertiary sections.

J. Prestwich to Sir Charles Lyell. 28, 6, 59.

MY DEAR SIR CHARLES, — A main object of our visit to Erith
was to see whether the E. primigenius and E. antiquus occur
there in different beds. We found nothing in situ to settle the
question ; but a careful inspection of Mr Spurrell's collection
leads me to the belief that no separation can at present be
made. The greater number of teeth in Mr Spurrell's collection
are of the E. primigenius. I saw only two of the E. antiquus.
In universal character no distinction could be made. Still, the
evidence is not complete. The Menchecourt species is, however,
decidedly the E. primigenius; and then we have the Cyrena
fluminalis. As to the question you ask me about the Shackle-
well Gravel, it is a question I have asked myself the last fifteen
years without being able to feel certain about an answer. My
opinion long inclined to the belief that the Grays deposit is
newer than the Boulder Clay ; these other gravels of the Thames
valley are consequently of the same recent age. Of late I have
not felt so sure. I find the Boulder Clay sweeping down to a
very low level in Essex. I find also that many rock specimens
I referred to the Boulder Clay may also be referred to the great
Western Drift, and I am not yet satisfied that I have got the
correlation of these two drifts. I hope this summer to be able
to work up all my evidence and go through all my collections.
I must also again visit a few places in the eastern counties. I
shall then begin with the Clay and work upwards, when I hope
to find the difficulties which now perplex me disappear as they
are handled in right succession. My impression at present is

132 BRIXHAM CAVE. [l859.

certainly that part of the materials of the Thames valley gravel
is derived from the Boulder Clay, or from a led of gravel imme-
diately preceding it — that the Cyrena lived with the Mammoth,
and that the E. antiquus is not confined to the age of the Bacton
Beds. As to the gravel under the Cyrena -bed at Clapton, it
contains, I think, almost all the specimens we saw at Victoria
Park. Ten years since, I daresay I should have given you more
definite answers ; but the more I see of the subject, the more I
feel involved in its complications. I see some objections to
almost every position. . . . — Believe me to be very truly yours,

J. PRESTWICH.

J. Prestwich to H. Falconer. 2nd July 1859.

MY DEAR FALCONER, — . . . The points for your inspection
are in the first two papers. About the Brixham Cave, have
I rightly expressed myself about the Eeport to the Geological
Society, or shall I mention it in any other way ? That to you
the discovery is due is certain, inasmuch as the cave was started
by you and worked in your way; that the weight of your
opinion also led us all to consider the matter more serious,
and seriously, is also certain. So you are the head and front
of the cave, and the leader of this new inquiry, and as such
you must allow me to place you. Will you therefore kindly
look to these two pages and make such additions, alterations,
&c., as you think fit? . . .

I am not sure now that I have said all that I want; but
these letters coming in the hours of business, and on a busy
Saturday, leave me but little time for consideration. Pray,
however, consider me always, &c., J. PRESTWICH.

J. Prestwich to Sir Charles Lyell.

2 SUFFOLK LANE, 6th July 1859.

MY DEAR SIR CHARLES, — You have planned a charming ex-
cursion, and I wish I could meet you at Amiens or Rouen ; but
I doubt whether I shall be able. I shall probably return there
later. At present the levels of the different pits are being
accurately taken. For these I shall, I believe, be indebted
to the Government engineers. Nothing can be done at present
in collecting shells at Menchecourt, as the sands in which they

ME. 47.] CYKENA. 133

are found are 5 or 6 feet beneath the bottom of the pit, and
are only worked in winter. I had three trenches dug, but they
were not left open. M. Marcotte, a friend of M. de Perthes,
promised to collect for me all he could in the course of the
autumn or winter. There is no Pharmacien there who could
do it.

If you have a trench dug, let it be near where my first
trench was. At the last two I had dug I found nothing of
importance.

Of the sand itself you will find a good heap collected in one
part of the pit, and will find plenty of fresh-water and land
shells ; but various shells are very rare. I got a few fragments ;
but all my present specimens come from the first trench, so also
the Cyrena.

As for the Cyrena, here we found it on Saturday week high up
in the section in Simpson's pit at Erith ; and you may remember
that Mr Meeson found a Gryphcea incurva in the ground quite at
the bottom of his pit at Grays. Was this from the Boulder
Clay ? I have never seen one in the Western Drift. As for
these two Drifts, after great work I imagined I had found the
latter superimposed on the former on the top of a hill near
Brandon ; whilst last year I found the Boulder Clay in a valley
near St Albans, with the Western Drift capping the hills flank-
ing this valley, and therefore apparently older than the B. Clay.
I must get a third case to serve as umpire.

I think the Cyrena existed at the time of the ElepJias primi-
genius both at Erith and Menchecourt. Ilford and Grays I am
not certain about ; but I have my doubts. The fact is, we have
many places where the Cyrena occurs; but unfortunately from
all the elephants having been E. primigenius formerly, sufficient
information of the exact fact is now wanting, owing to many
specimens having been overlooked, and not collected, or lost.

When you go to the Norfolk Cliffs, look again at Mundesley.
I have been there three times, and on each occasion came to the
conclusion that the shell- and peat -bed there was above the
Boulder Clay. On the last occasion I, however, found another
bed of shells under the B. Clay.

As for the exact order of succession, it is so complicated
that, as often as I imagined I had detected it, as often have I

134 FLINT IMPLEMENTS. [1859.

been thrown out again. When I think about it, some 300 or 400
sections and facts flit before me, some tempting me one way and
some another, until I feel fairly bewildered. In the great coast
sections the matter is clear enough, but when we come inland the
confusion is great. You have given two or three of the leading
periods in your note, possibly correctly. I herewith give you
these and some minor ones. I do not attempt any order, but
give them in round-robin fashion, merely to show you what we
want room for. I do, however, hope this summer to reduce all
my observations, when I Hope all will fall into proper order ; and
I am, my dear Sir Charles, yours very truly, J. PRESTWICH.

Satisfied by the success of his memoir to the Royal
Society, Prestwich addressed a letter to the French
Academy of Sciences urging the significance of M. de
Perthes' discoveries. The title of this paper was,
" Sur la Decouverte d'Instruments en Silex associes a
des Restes de Mammiferes d'Especes perdues dans des
Couches non - remaniees d'une Formation geologique
recente," and it was published in the ' Comptes
Rendus' for 1859. The effect of this communication
was that his friend M. Albert Gaudry, a distinguished
member of the Institute, visited Abbeville and Amiens
to examine the implements and the flint-bearing beds.
He found worked flints in situ, and his researches con-
firmed M. de Perthes' statements : his report had the
effect in Paris that the paper to the Royal Society had
in England, and a French pilgrimage to the valley of
the Somme began, headed by well-known members of
the Institute, among whom were MM. de Quatrefages,
Lartet, Hebert, and many others.

J. Prestwich to Sir Charles LyelL nth August 1859, LONDON.

MY DEAR SIR CHARLES, — I was very glad to receive your
letter and account of your visit to Abbeville and Amiens.
I will answer your questions categorically. My Cyrena is

JST. 47.] SEQUENCE OF DRIFTS. 135

nearly perfect. The most important part of the hinge remains,
viz., that part showing striations. Morris has seen it, and there
can, I think, be little doubt of it. It is about the size of the one
from Shacklewell. I found 1 Purpura lapillus, 4 Littorina
littorea, 1 Buccinum, 3 Tellina, 1 Cardium. These shells are
scarce and uncertain. On my second visit, although two deep
trenches were dug, not one marine specimen was obtained. My
first trench went down to the hard conglomerate rock — 3 or 4
feet beneath the flints.

I saw Drucat on my last visit and was much interested with
the section. M. Boucher de Perthes gave me a flint implement
from that locality. . . .

I have often seen the loess, both in France and Belgium, on
different levels. A good exhibition of this occurs at St Peter's
Mount, Maestricht. I don't believe in the faults.

With regard to the age of the Eed Clay Drift with meulieres
around Paris, I am perfectly satisfied in my own mind that
it is older than the drift of the valleys with land and fresh-water
shells, bones, and granite, and that the valleys were excavated
after the spread of the up-level Eed Clay Drift.

I missed Chartres on my last visit to France. I was going
there, but waiting for some of my companions from England (who
never came), I was detained in Paris until too late in the day.
It is a place well worth visiting, as are also the others you name.

I am inclined to think Moulin Quignon older than Menche-
court. I would not, however, assert that opinion. So I think St
Acheul older than St Eoch. This is in physical evidence, but
the other evidence is so curious that I must again go over the
ground and examine all the collateral facts before venturing at a
conclusion. I should not be surprised at all proving of the same
age, or nearly so.

I shall certainly go [to] Boves, and will write to M. Pinsard.
I also saw one very white flint implement (in M. Boucher de
Perthes' collection) with red clay adhering to it. It was from
St Eiquier. I do not remember one (white) with ochre, sand, or
earth.

I am going out of town this afternoon for a day or two, and
next week I start for Wales, but I doubt whether I shall be
at Aberdeen. I shall be very glad, therefore, of a few lines

136 CHARLES KINGSLEY. [l859.

to inform me of the result of your visit to Le Puy, and with
thanks for your last long letter, I am, ever truly yours,

J. PRESTWICH.

I enclose you a curious proces verbal I have received from
M. de Perthes. Please return it to him if you pass through
Abbeville.

The following letter from the Rev. Charles Kingsley
must have given pleasure to our geologist :—

EVERSLEY KECTORY, WINCHFIELD,
C. Kingsley to J. Prestwich. August 26, 1859.

MY DEAR Sm, — I have to thank you for — what I had no
right to expect — sending me your pamphlet on the flint arrow-
heads of Abbeville, &c.

From your conclusion there can be no dissent. I, last of all
men, should wish to impugn it from other causes : I have long
expected some such discovery. I regret much that I missed Dr
Falconer's paper on the Brixham Cave. Perhaps you would
kindly tell me where I can obtain it.

You, I am sure, will appreciate the immense importance of
your own statement. If corroborated, it must lead to a recon-
sideration and rearrangement of beliefs, as well as of geologic
theories. It seems to me the greatest stride forward which has
been made since the Semitic tradition of the six-days' creation
was abandoned as untenable.

That religious persons will be angry, and try to crush the
truth, you must expect. But I must compliment you on the
modesty and tact with which you have at least staved off the
evil day, by confining yourself to facts, and building no theories
on them. By such a method, sound science will gain a firm root
in thinking minds before the ignorant and suspicious public is
even aware of its existence.

I must take this opportunity of expressing to you my deep
obligations, as to the man who has taught me to find boundless
interest and instruction in those barren Bagshot Sands on which
I live, and hope to die.— Believe me, ever yours,

C. KINGSLEY.

Ignorant of your address, I send this to Burlington House.

MT. 47.] CAVES IN WALES. 137

Prestwich, eagerly on the track of any other evidence
which might throw light on the antiquity of man, joined
Falconer in the autumn of 1859 in an inspection of the
ossiferous caves of Gower in Glamorganshire, when they
were the guests at Stouthall of their kind friends, Col-
onel and Mrs Wood. Falconer had visited the caves
in 1858 with Colonel Wood, who for a series of years
had been engaged in excavations in most of the caves
in succession. He had discovered and explored several
that were previously unknown, and unreservedly had
placed his large collections of fossils at Dr Falconer's
disposal. He had been a quiet, persevering worker :
the contents of cave after cave had been exhumed at
his own charge and without public recognition.

Before joining Falconer for the work in Gower,
Prestwich made a geological tour in Wales, extending
over several weeks. He was in quest of Drift, Boulder
Clay, and ice action, and had in view a personal exam-
ination of the slopes of Moel Tryfaen, where shells had
been found at a height of 1360 feet underneath a
mass of Boulder Clay. Step by step, halting at very
many stages, the ground was traversed from Oxford
on to St Asaph, where another visit to Cefn Cave1
was irresistible.

/. Prestwich to If, Falconer. LLANBERIS, Septr. 7/59.

MY DEAR FALCONER, — On receipt of your first note I wrote you
a few lines from Ludlow, and hoped they would have reached
Bryn Elwy before your departure. I missed you by one day, as
I arrived on Friday evening. I was most kindly and hospitably
received by your friend Captn. Thomas, who met me at the
station — otherwise I should have gone to the inn, as I intended
staying but one day, and it happened to be the first week in Sep-

1 Since described by Professor T. M'K. Hughes, F.K.S., Journ. An-
thropological Inst., vol. iii. p. 387.

138 ICE- ACTION IN WALES. [l859.

tember. The following morning we drove over to Cefn : the day
was fine, and we had a most delightful walk back. The geo-
logical interest also I found great. We remained some time in
the cave, and I was fortunate enough to find a considerable
number of fragments of bones and two nearly perfect teeth. I
packed them up as I disinterred them, and have not looked at
them since. One, I think, was the tooth of a deer ; the other
was too much enveloped in its matrix to say what it was.

I left Bryn Elwy on Saturday evening, examined the coast
section at Llandudno, and 'am now here to see the Drift and ice-
action around Snowdon. I remain here until Tuesday morning
next, then proceed to Carnarvon, Tremadoc, and Cardigan to
Swansea, which I hope to reach either on Monday or Tuesday
week next, and still, I trust, in time to find you there. Please,
however, write me a line per return to this place, to say the
latest day to which you will remain at Stouthall, and I will
do my best to have a day with you there. — I am, most truly
yours, J. PKESTWICH.

After noting in detail the glacial features of Con way
and Capel Curig, he lingered in the neighbourhood of
Cwm Glas over the roches moutonnees and blocs
perches, and gives a striking view in a few touches
of the entrance below Cwm Glas. In short, the geo-
logy of this particular district fascinated him, and it
was with evident reluctance that he tore himself away.

" The sides of Cwm Glas up to the little tarn show
traces of rounded and striated rocks. They remind me
of the small side glaciers pendent on the mountain-sides
between the Glacier des Bois and Montanvert. I could
not recognise any terminal moraine. The moraine at
the entrance of Cwm seemed to me to be part of the
great lateral moraine of the main valley of Llanberis." x

1 It may be interesting to mention that Kamsay's account of " The Old
Glaciers of Switzerland and North Wales" was first published in 1859 as
one of the chapters in ' Peaks, Passes, and Glaciers,3 by members of the
Alpine Club. It was reprinted as a separate volume in 1860.

.ET. 47.] GOWER CAVES. 139

On September 12th he ascended Snowdon, next day
proceeding to Carnarvon, and afterwards to Clynnog.
Taking a circuitous route, he arrived at Stouthall from
Swansea on the 20th. Next day, with the assistance
and local knowledge of Colonel Wood, he commenced
the joint investigation with Falconer of the caves on
the picturesque coast of Gower. To quote the words
of Falconer, " Its line of coast stretches from the
' Mumbles ' on the E. to the ' Worm's Head ' on
the W., and with the indentations of Port Eynon,
Oxwich, and smaller bays, it presents an iron-bound
wall of bold, lofty, and precipitous or scarped cliffs,
occasionally exhibiting features of the grandest
description."

The best known of the caverns, which are at different
heights above the sea, are " Bacon Hole," " Bosco's
Den," "Minchin Hole," "Long Hole," and " Eaven's
Cliff." These all occur in this southern range of cliffs
between Worm's Head and the " Mumbles." Nor
must " Paviland Cave " be omitted, which was de-
scribed in 1821 by Dr Buckland, and where the
fragmentary skeleton of a woman was found. The
bones were stained red ; thus the skeleton was known
in Gower as " The Red Lady of Paviland." How
the poor human form was introduced into this cave,
and came to be found in association with tusks and
remains of elephant, is a problem that will never be
solved. The generally accepted explanation is that
the body was brought and laid there for burial.

One of the best -known of the caves is " Spritsail
Tor," situated to the west of the Gower Peninsula
and facing Carmarthen Bay. It was discovered by
quarrymen in 1839, who had cut back into the Car-
boniferous Limestone. Although of comparatively small

140 GOWER CAVES. [l859.

size, it yielded a large quantity of fossils. In 1849 it
was thoroughly explored by Colonel Wood, who de-
tected a second entrance.

As a whole, the fossil remains from the Gower caves,
which varied in each case in numbers and species, were
of surpassing interest. Teeth of Elephas antiquus and
of E. primigenius ; teeth and bones of Rhinoceros
Jiemitcechus and Rh. tichorhinus ; bones of Bear and
Hycena were found ; but in quantity and in number
of species the remains of deer were in the greatest
abundance, especially those of the Cervus Guettardi.

In a list of fossil bones from " Long Hole " given in
a posthumous note to Dr Falconer's ' Ossiferous Caves
of Gower/ two species of Elephas, two of Rhinoceros,
two of Equus, and four of Deer, &c., are given. Also
it is recorded that " flint implements, unquestionably
of human manufacture, were found along with these
fossil remains, and were sent to me by Colonel Wood.
One very fine flint arrow-head was found contiguous
to, and at the same depth as, a detached shell of a
milk molar of R. hemitcechus"

It was on this joint visit to Gower in 1859 by
Falconer and Prestwich that the keen eye of the
latter discovered a raised beach in Mewslade Bay, a
mile in length, "perched upon the out-cropping edges
of the limestone strata of the old cliff, which is but
very little changed in the shape of its escarpment
since the beach was formed, although still in close
proximity to the sea."

He made an attempt to reach " Bosco's Den," but
found entrance impossible. The entry in his note-
book records that, " descending to the coast after
[his examination of Paviland Cave], I found a superb
raised beach thickly covered with angular debris. The

JET. 47.] BOUCHER DE PERTHES. 141

* head ' decreases, but the raised beach continues to
nearly opposite the Worm's Head. Then passing
round to shore on w. side (Rhos Sili Bay), the fine
bold cliffs are precipitous, with no traces of a raised
beach. Passing Rh6s Sili, the shore becomes more
shelving, and a mass of debris in clay slopes down
the hill. Farther on a low cliff commences, appar-
ently Boulder Clay. Farther on a seam of shingle
sets in, and in it I found several shells — perfect and
broken," &c.

Prestwich returned to town after this interesting
exploration of the Gower coast, yet he was again
westward as far as Salisbury in the end of October.

One cannot resist giving a quotation from a humor-
ous note of Dr Falconer's ; it is dated about a year
after his first visit to Abbeville :—

LONDON, 4<A Nov. 1859.

MY DEAR PRESTWICH, — I have a charming letter from M.
Boucher de Perthes, full of gratitude to "perfide Albion" for
helping him to assured immortality, and giving him a lift when
his countrymen of the Institute left him in the gutter. He
radiates a benignant smile from his lofty pinnacle on you and
me — surpised that the treacherous Leopard should have behaved
so well.

M. Boucher de Perthes was by his success incited
to pursue his investigations with increased ardour.
That bone of contention, " The Moulin Quignon Jaw,"
had not then come to light, and his happiness and
serenity were — for a while — undisturbed.

J. PTestwicll to H. Falconer. 2 SUFFOLK LANE, Novr. 5, 1859.

MY DEAR FALCONER, — I am very glad to hear of your intention
to remain in England this week, as by that I infer you are better
able to stand this climate ; and I rejoice in the prospect of your

142 ROBERT CHAMBERS. [l859.

overhauling the Brixham Cave spoils. I am quite of your opinion
as to sending down the cases to you at Torquay.

I was at Salisbury last week, and saw, in a collection just
commenced by a Dr Blackmore, the bone of a bird and part of
the jaw of the cave-tiger from Fisherton.

I also have had some very pleasant and kind letters from
Boucher de Perthes. I wrote a short time ago to the French
Institute respecting his discovery and my visit to the Somme.
Have you seen M. Gaudry's paper, the one he read before the
Academic des Sciences?' He has sent me a copy of it. — Ever
truly yours, J. PKESTWICH.

P.S, — As I am going out of town (north) for three or four weeks,
I will try to call on you on Monday morning, and will put
Gaudry's paper in my pocket. We had a meeting of the Cave
Committee on Wednesday. The point for consideration was
where we should send the collection to. We considered it
desirable to consult the wishes of the Eoy. Soc. on this point.
I also wanted to know yours.

The following note from Dr Robert Chambers is
an evidence of his appreciation of the flints from the
valley of the Somme : —

R. Chambers to J. Prestwich.

31 SOMEESET STREET, Nov. 12, 1859.

MY DEAR SIR, — I have received your packet containing two
of the Amiens flint weapons. I could hardly have supposed you
were willing to part with such precious relics of antiquity, and
still feel some doubt as to your intentions. Assuming, however,
in the meantime that you design me to retain them, I beg leave
to thank you for them most earnestly. I shall have great satis-
faction in showing them to the large and intelligent audience
of the Philosophical Institution in Edinburgh when I give my
lectures next month ; and perhaps it will ultimately appear best
that I hand them into our National Museum of Antiquities,
which already contains examples of such weapons (of ungeo-
logical history) collected in more countries than one. — I am, ray
dear sir, yours very sincerely, E. CHAMBEKS.

JST. 47.] MENCHECOURT. 143

On December 3rd Prestwich addressed a letter to
the * Athenaeum' on "Flint Implements in the Drift,"
in reply to one through the same channel from Pro-
fessor Henslow, who at that time objected to our
geologist's conclusion that the flint implements of
Hoxne were in all probability found as described by
Mr Frere — i.e., associated with the remains of the
mammoth, and possibly of other extinct animals, in
undisturbed beds of the Post-Pliocene age.

J. Prestwich to Sir C. Lyell. 28«A December 1859.

MY DEAR SIR CHARLES, — I think the report of the occurrence
of the greater part of the skeleton of a rhinoceros in the " Sable
aigu " at Menchecourt is to be depended upon. It is not, however,
anywhere referred to that I am aware of, unless by Dr Eavin in
the Mem. of the * Societe d'Emulation ' of Abbeville. I have
the series, but that volume is missing. I am promised it by
M. B. de Perthes. Nor do I recollect whether M. B. de Perthes
refers to it in his ' Anti[quite*s] Ante[diluviennes].' I think you
have the vol. containing the Menchecourt section, which I sent
you before you went to France. It is in the " Sable aigu " that
flint implements are said by M. B. de Perthes to have been
found, but I do not think the evidence conclusive. Still I think
it probable most of the 'haches' M. B. de P. showed from
Menchecourt had an opacity and porcelanic aspect which indi-
cated extraction from a light-coloured clayey matrix, and I found
that in the lower part of the " Sable aigu " there often is a sub-
ordinate seam of whitish clay. Others are stained ochreous, and
I found small patches of ochreous gravel in the same position.
Others again seemed to me, from the depth noted and their
colour, &c., to have come from the loess-like deposit over the
" Sable aigu." That the Cyrena came from " Sable aigu " I have
no doubt. M. Marcotte promised to collect for me during the
winter diggings. I shall, however, if possible, run over myself
for a few days. It would certainly not be safe to take the
hippopotamus of St Eoch as of the same set of things. I found
no worked flints there, nor had the present workmen ever found

144 OVERTON LONGVILLE. [l859.

any (this, I think, should lessen or remove the suspicion which
some have of the St Acheul workmen possibly manufacturing
the implements, for if they [fabricated] these why not the St
Koch men ?). Still Dr Eigollot mentions them. One of the things
poor John Brown l did before his death was to spend some four
or five days at Hoxne, working out the shells there, taking a
load of clay away with him to continue the search at home. He
mentions Cyclas but no Cyrena. I had a visit the other day from
man A at Orton, near Peterborough. He still maintained, when
I showed him the French specimens of flint implements, that he
had found flints like them in the Orton gravel pits, and man
B, who accompanied, confirmed it, and observed that he had seen
more at the large gravel pits at Water Newton four miles from
Orton, and where the gravel is 20 feet deep. I asked him to
go over for a day and give me the results. — Ever truly yours,

J. PEESTWICH.

In his recent edition of c Ancient Stone Implements,'
Sir John Evans remarks, " At Overton Longville or
Little Orton, two miles S.W. of Peterborough, a spot
visited by Sir Joseph Prestwich and myself in search
af palaeolithic implements, about 1861, some were found
a few years ago by the late Dowager Marchioness of
Huntly."2

1 John Brown, F.G.S., of Stanway, near Colchester, a zealous worker at
the Pleistocene fresh- water deposits of Essex and Suffolk. Born 1779;
died 1859.

2 * Ancient Stone Implements of Great Britian,' 2nd edition, Longmans
& Co., 1897.

145

CHAPTER VI.

1860-1863.

ANTIQUITY OF MAN — FIELD GEOLOGY-
GEOLOGICAL MAPS.

THE subject of the Antiquity of Man now attracted
universal attention, and Prestwich, who with Falconer
had all along duly estimated the value of the evidence
afforded by the English caves, was more eager than
ever that the fossil bones exhumed from Brixham
Cavern should be accurately determined. They had
been sent to the Geological Society in London, but
it so happened that as Dr Falconer had selected
Torquay this winter as a residence, our geologist wrote
early in January, suggesting that the Brixham spoils
should be returned to him at Torquay, and this was
accordingly done.

There were frequent letters between Sir Charles
Lyell and Prestwich at this date : —

J. Prestwich to Sir Charles Lyell. SUFFOLK LANE, 3rd January 1860.

MY DEAR SIR CHARLES, — There is no doubt you were wrong
originally about Mundesley. I satisfied myself on that point
some years since, and have since returned three times to make
sure about it before bringing forward my paper on the Crag and

K

146 MUNDESLEY. [i860.

beds above it. I worked it out in some detail when I was there,
with Mr [the Eev. John] Gunn, and shall be happy to give
you any particulars of my section you may require. Seeing its
close analogy to Hoxne, I set off to Mundesley again last August,
and reached Mr Gunn's. I there, however, heard of a section at
Yarmouth which so much interested me and Mr Gunn that we
both started for Yarmouth the following morning, leaving Mun-
desley for a future period. I much wished to examine the bed
of gravel, A, under the peaty bed, as there, I think, there might
be a possibility of flint- implements occurring. I directed Mr
Gunn's attention to this point, and hope he may some day have
a successful search. You might also find flints in your bed B,
but it would be in A that I should particularly look for them.
The ElepJias primigenius has not been found here, but I believe
it to be its position. The ElepJias teeth at Amiens occur in-
discriminately throughout the white gravel just as the flints
do, but they are more numerous in the lower part of it. The
place of one specimen was shown me some feet above the
level of Mr Flower's flint. I wrote two letters to the ' Athenaeum '
in reply to Prof. Henslow's first letter, but do not think it neces-
sary to write in reply to his letter in the last No. of the
'Athenaeum.' I have not drawn up my last notes on Hoxne,
but you will find the main points in the ' Athenaeum.' I pur-
pose sending them to the Eoyal Society. I hope, however, to
see you to-morrow, and I am, ever truly yours,

J. PRESTWICH.

J. Prestwich to the Same. SUFFOLK LANE, Uth January 1860.

MY DEAR SIR CHARLES, — My collection from Mundesley is
very small. Your list I found so good that I did not set to work
to collect much from the same bed, but went to new ground.
I cannot therefore throw any light upon the occurrence there of
the Paludina marginata. I am glad you feel some doubts about
Grays. I have very strong ones. Hoxne, Mundesley, and
Amiens, I should certainly place together, and I believe I men-
tioned so in my paper before the Royal Society. Another place
I named was Copford, which I have not had an opportunity of
revisiting, and now poor old John Brown, who knew every inch
of that ground, is dead.

JET. 48.] LETTER TO HIS SISTER. 147

You asked me at the last Club dinner to look again at the
Supplement you last published. I have done so. I do not quite
agree with [S. P.] Woodward's numbers, as I make the species
common to the Eed and Norwich Crag greater. The difference,
however, is not great or important, nor are my own lists suffi-
ciently complete to give a definite answer. The general fact of
a refrigeration, &c., I quite agree in; so also that there are
more recent specimens in the Norwich Crag. I base my objec-
tions rather upon physical grounds and points of geological
structure. Annexed is a rough sketch of what I think is the
order of sequence. I am ever truly yours, J. PEESTWICH.

There was less literary production during 1860, yet
there was not less industry. The amount of field
geology accomplished was extraordinary. Excursions
were made to various parts of England — to districts
west, south, east, north — and all explored with pains-
taking care. Frequent journeys were also made to the
Somme valley : a flying visit was paid when worked
flints had been found in any number. His ever active
brain was marshalling the array of facts, and tracing
the outlines of the great work which was to be given to
the world two or three years later in the form of a
memoir on the Geological Age of the Drift Deposits, in
which remains of extinct mammalia had been found in
association with flint implements. This persistent de-
votion to his science, however, was never allowed to
weaken the affectionate relations which bound him to
his family. He was ever the same thoughtful, kind
brother.

J. Prestwich to C. Thurburn. LONDON [31st March], 1860.

MY DEAREST KATE, — Very many happy returns of the day.
Another year has slipped away, and here is the memorable 1st
April and your birthday come round again. How fast time
moves seems to me indicated by the growth of these dear dupli-

148 SOMME VALLEY. [i860.

cates, ending with little Kittie, rather than by any other sign.
The more one becomes acquainted with time, the more slippery
does it appear to be. I know I never seem to have enough of it
between one 12th of March and another, and I doubt not that it
is the same with you between the 1st April and the 31st March.
Yet we all have a few spare, or at all events a few idle or lazy,
hours. To aid in filling up such intervals with what I conceive
to be, and I trust you will find to be, pleasure and profit, and in
the hopes that many long years may afford you many opportuni-
ties, accept, my dear sister, not the enclosed microscope but the
microscope of which the key is enclosed, and which I will take
care you find at home on your return. I only wish I could have
presented it personally. It is one of Powell and Lealand's. I
have seen that they have made it with care, and I think you will
find it work easily and well. . . . Dearest Kate, your affection-
ate brother, J. PKESTWICH.

A note -book, with sections of gravel -pits on every
alternate page, gives April as the date when Prestwich
again led several of his personal friends to the flint-
bearing districts of Amiens and Abbeville, the party
including Mr Busk, Captain Galton, and Sir John Lub-
bock. A host of geologists and others followed on the
same errand. Amongst many names may be noted
those of Sir R. Murchison, Professors Andrew C. Ram-
say, Rupert Jones, Henslow, Rogers, and Mr Henry
Christy.

While the subject of this Memoir thus went back-
wards and forwards to the valley of the Somme, gener-
ally putting up for the night at his favourite quarters
on the way to or from Paris, at the H6tel Tete de
Bceuf at Abbeville, or at the H6tel du Rhin at Amiens,
and tabulating what of interest might have been
revealed by excavations during his absence, he still
continued to send in memoirs to the Geological Society
of London. Two papers are recorded in this year, one

Ml. 48.] GOWER CAVES. 149

being " Description of the Gravels from Spitzbergen
collected by Mr Lamont," and the other, " On the Pres-
ence of the London Clay in Norfolk, as proved by a
Well-boring at Yarmouth."

No week passed without a geological expedition, if
only for the day, and as much field-work was crowded
into that one day as was possible.

J. Presturich to J. Evans. Monday, May 1860.

MY DEAR EVANS, — We start by the 10.15 train for Erith,
thence to the Crayford and Perry End brick -pits. Back by
train, reaching the Lewisham Station at 2^ P.M., whence to the
Lower Tertiary pits of Loam Pit Hill. Morris joins us at the
Lewisham Station by train from London. The other men start
with me. — Yours most truly, J. PRESTWICH.

Some idea of the difficulty of access to the Gower
caverns may be gained from the letter which, at
Falconer's request, Prestwich wrote as an Appendix
to the memoir by the former " On the Ossiferous Caves
of Gower," communicated to the Geological Society on
May 30 and June 13, 1860, and which is here given : —

10 KENT TERRACE, May 17, 1860.

MY DEAR FALCONER, — I have much pleasure in giving you a
few lines respecting the raised beach I met with last autumn to
the westward of Paviland Cave in Gower. I find my notes on
this subject are not very complete, having taken only a first
survey, reserving a fuller examination of the coast until I could
obtain access to the caves. You will remember how I was
baffled on the last occasion by the state of the tide and the
weather. Finding it quite impossible to pass round the foot of
the cliff to gain the entrance to Paviland Cave, I proceeded
westward along that iron-bound and magnificent frontage of
limestone cliffs, ending in Worm's Head, with the intention of
examining them at the accessible points, to see whether I could
detect any facts bearing upon your very important observations

150 RAISED BEACH AT GOWER. [i860.

on " Bosco's Den," relating to the connection of marine remains
under, and in association with, the wonderful mass of bone
cMbris you and Colonel Wood had discovered there. At the
distance of about half-a-mile west of Paviland Cave I found a
gully, by which I got down to the shore.

I then found in hollows in the cliff, and at an elevation of
10 to 12 feet above the beach, a layer of sand and rolled lime-
stone pebbles having all the characters of a beach ; but in the
absence of shells, and looking at its small patchy character, no
conclusion could be drawn from it alone. The passage at the
foot of the cliffs being still impracticable, I had to confine myself
for the next mile or two to one or two descents, where I again
found traces of what appeared to be a raised beach. Still I was
not prepared for the very fine and remarkable exhibition I
witnessed, after passing Mewslade, at the bottom of the small
bay formed by Thurba Eock and Tears Point, about one mile
south of Rhos Sili. There, perched upon the escarped edges of
the grey weathered limestone, is an old beach, raised some 10 to
12 feet above high-tide mark. It is composed of pebbles and
fragments of limestones, thinly mixed with a coarse red sand,
and in places full of shells and fragments of shells. There are
very few species : the Patella vulgata is common ; the Littorina,
littorea abounds ; there are a few Purpura lapillus, and fragments
of Mytilus; also pebbles of limestone drilled by boring shells.
The whole, which is 3 to 4 feet thick, is agglutinated into a
semi -compact mass, and is overlain by a remarkable mass of
angular ddbris, from 20 to 30 feet thick in some places. The
beach goes back only a few feet, as the limestone hill rises
immediately behind. Coastways the raised beach continues
almost uninterruptedly, but diminishing in importance for half
a mile westward, ending before reaching Tears Point. Its level
is persistent throughout. . . .

Taking this in connection with the well - known " raised
beach" at the Mumbles, I think it may have an important
bearing, in conjunction with your discoveries in those bone
caves in Gower, which are situated on the coast between these
two points. They are evidently on about the same level, and
you have found in them sand and sea-shells under all the bone
remains. Should it prove, therefore, that the caves are of this

J3T. 48.] BOULDER CLAY AT GOWER. 151

Kaised Beach period, and that the elephant and other remains
have been subsequently introduced, we shall arrive at the inter-
esting and curious conclusion that this particular group of mam-
malia lived after the formation of those beaches — beaches which
have always been considered as of very recent origin, as they
contain nothing, so far as they have been examined, but the
commonest shells of our coasts. At the same time, it is to be
observed that they contain but very few species, and that no
complete and thorough investigation of them has yet been
made. With regard to your suggestion in connection with the
two species of elephant, I must confess that I saw nothing in
the physical features of the scene, during the somewhat hurried
and imperfect view I had of it, to lead me to suppose that the
caves, or rather their inhabitants, might be referred to two
periods. I should hardly have hazarded this opinion without a
further examination of the district ; but I give it for what it is
worth, and waiting further data.

With respect to the point I had particularly in view, viz., the
relation of the Gower caves to the Boulder Clay, I am unable
as yet to form a decided opinion. I got the Boulder Clay within
a mile of the raised beach, but on opposite sides of the point of
Khos Sili. It spreads from the sea-shore to, as you are aware,
the top of the hills. In Khos Sili Bay I found intercalated in it,
at an elevation almost exactly corresponding to the raised beach
on the opposite side of the promontory, a bed of shingle con-
taining several species of recent shells, but not one of the
species occurring in the raised beach. Yet the two would appear
to be synchronous : the difference might arise from the one being
on an exposed and open coast, and the other in a sheltered
bay. The subject requires a fuller and more lengthened
inquiry.

J. Prestwich to Sir Charles Lyell. 23rd May 1860.

MY DEAR SIR CHARLES, — I have been considering some of the
questions you propose to me, for the purpose of adding a note
to Falconer's paper, which he reads at the next meeting. I
hope to finish it to-day or to-morrow, and will send you a
copy of it.

The Boulder Clay seems to reach within two miles of the

152 BOULDER CLAY, [i860.

Gower caves and occupies higher ground. The caves I believe
to be subsequent to that period — in fact [the bones] subsequent
to the raised beaches. This is a point Falconer will go more fully
into. I have found a capital raised beach in very close relation to
the caves. I do not think Devon and Cornwall were submerged
during the Boulder Clay period — yet even here is a difficulty,
for I have in one place a raised beach under land which clearly
is covered in part with B. Clay. I do not in fact see where the
break is that would ensue upon a very great difference in the
submergence. Yet I have evidence of shallowing of the sea —
but the subject is so vast and complicated that I should require a
volume rather than a note to say all I should like about it.

With regard to South Wales more especially, I must return
there, as with the exceptions of Carmarthen and Gower I dwelt
nowhere. However, on the one important point of the relative
age of the raised beaches of South Wales, Devon, and Cornwall,
I hope we shall be able to decide. [S. P.] Woodward pronounces
the Menchecourt shell decidedly Cyrena fluminalis. — I am, my
dear Sir Charles, very truly yours, J. PRESTWICH.

H. Falconer to J. Prestwich.

31 SACKVILLE STREET, W., 2nd Jtme 1860.

MY DEAR PRESTWICH, — You know what a fierce onslaught was
made on me by Lyell and Austen. I thought the latter was
going to eat me up. The whole subject will be up again at the
next meeting, when the main brunt of the battle will fall on you.
There is no wavering in the aspect of the mammalian evidence —
it is coming out stronger than ever, as I can show you when you
happen to pass this way.

But we must be prepared for every aspect, and there is one
point I specially wish to ask you about, namely, the Cefn Cave.
I know all about the contained mammalia, having had the
collection up here.

But Trimmer, in his paper on the Erratics of the " Norfolk
Areas" (Geol. Proceedings, November 20, 1850, p. 20), states
that "Britain sank as well as rose during that [the Glacial]
period. These proofs consist in the forest of Happisburgh and
Cromer . . . and in the circumstance that on the western
coast the northern Drift, with its marine remains, has penetrated

JET. 48.] BOULDER CLAY OF WALES. 153

into Cefn Cave, and, by its superposition to the deposits con-
taining mammalian remains, testifies, like the buried forest, to
the presence of a subaerial surface immediately before the
transport of northern blocks."

Now is this correct ? You have examined the deposits and
found the Boulder Clay near Bryn Elwy.

Does the Boulder Clay penetrate into Cefn and overlie the
mammalian deposits ? If so, it is a fatal blow to your position
in Gower.

Do look into the matter and let me have a line in reply. —
Yours very sincerely, H. FALCONER.

J. Prestwick to If. Falconer. [Undated.]

MY DEAR FALCONER, — I have this morning received your note,
and am sorry I missed you in town. I do not feel in the
slightest degree uneasy about the difficulties raised by Austen
and Sir Charles. Trimmer is mistaken altogether about Cefn
Cave.1 There is plenty of Boulder Clay about the district, but
not a bit in the cave. Sand and shells, like your caves, do,
however, occur there. I have a note from Mr Homer about
extending my note and making a short paper of it, and suggesting
a title. The former I accept — the latter will not do. I must see
more about the Boulder Clay of Gower before I can venture to
say much about it. The raised beach I feel pretty certain
about. Still we want the level of the beach at the Mumbles, its
position, &c. I shall if possible run over there for a day or two
before I return to town. I am now en route for Exeter and
Plymouth. If you have any suggestion to give me, please drop
me [a line] either [on] your return to Barnstaple, or else on
Thursday to the P.O., Swansea. — Yours ever truly,

JOSEPH PRESTWICH.

A few extracts from one of the 1860 note -books
mention June 1 as the date of a journey to Newbury,

1 More recent observations on the caves in the Vale of Clwyd seem to
show that certain of the cave- deposits with Pleistocene mammalia are
older than the Boulder Clay of the district. See Dr H. Hicks, Quart.
Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xliv. p. 561, and vol. liv. p. 91.

154 GEOLOGICAL EXCURSIONS. [i860.

when sections and notes record the most interesting
features. Thence he proceeded to Devizes to visit the
collection of his friend Mr W. Cunnington. On 3rd
June he was at Yeovil and Sherborne. The obser-
vations on Wells and Banwell are voluminous, as are
likewise those on Weston-super-Mare. Every exhibi-
tion of drift that was observed is carefully noted on
the route from Exeter to Barnstaple, and again from
Exeter to Sidmouth, &c. It was his habit when on a
journey to alight at some small station, scan and
interpret the geology of its district, and proceed by a
later train.

On the way back to Bristol he had been struck at
Maiden Newton by traces of flint gravel on the hills.
He also observes that " the clay beds seem to have
caught the gravel (flint) more than the sandstones
and oolites, which are bare. Stop at Bruton station
next time."

On this occasion the geological features of Clifton
Down and Durdham Down were studied ; later on
one of many visits was paid to Watford and to a
certain gravel-pit at Bushey. A few sentences copied
at random from a note-book, or a catalogue of names
of places visited, give a totally inadequate idea of the
amount of field work accomplished on one geological
journey.

A second expedition to the Abbeville district is
noticed as having been made this year on July 5,
when Mr Prestwich went the round of several gravel-
pits, accompanied by M. Boucher de Perthes. Intent
on ascertaining the levels at which different flint im-
plements had been found, he sought information from
every available source. He emphasised a fact com-
municated to him by Pierre Halatre, jardinier, Rue

JST. 48.] JOHN GUNN. 155

de T^glise, Mautort — namely, that " formerly in pits
there, and in sand under gravel four to five metres
deep, a great number of shells had been found."

They then proceeded to Amiens — on from one gravel-
pit to another, exploring ground where new pits had
been opened or fresh excavations made.

His correspondence with Falconer had become very
frequent : a community of tastes had drawn them to-
gether, and their joint work was a keen pleasure to
both.

J. Prestwich to H. Falconer. 2 SUFFOLK LANE, July 14, i860.

MY DEAR FALCONER, — I have felt rather perplexed how to
spend my spare fortnight. Inclination attracts me to the pleasant
quarters at Irstead and the interesting coast of Norfolk. But I
have now visited those cliffs so frequently, and traced every yard
of ground between Weybourne and Harwich, that I have come
to the conclusion that I had better leave them for some shorter
holiday later in the season, and take this fortnight for the York-
shire coast, Kirkdale Cave, and Market Weigh ton, which I have
long wanted to visit, and are at present unknown ground to me.
I must also leave North and South Wales to a later period of
the season.

Since you questioned the fact of the JSlephas antiquus occur-
ring in the forest bed under the Boulder Clay I have not had time
to look into the evidence, but my impression is there is some
evidence and much indirect testimony to confirm that fact.1 I
hope you and Mr Gunn will look to it closely. Hear above all
what Mr Fitch of Norwich has to say on the subject.

Miss Gurney's collection is, I fear, dispersed.2 You, however,
have probably seen it. It was rich in specimens considered to
be from under the Boulder Clay. In my own mind I have not a

1 The occurrence is now fully established.

2 Many of Miss Anna Gurney's fossils are now in the Norwich Museum.
See 'Memorials of John Gunn,' 8vo, Norwich, 1891 (edited by H. B. Wood-
ward), in which work are numerous references to visits paid by Prestwich
to Norfolk.

156 VISIT TO YORKSHIRE. [i860.

doubt about the subject, no more than I have that the E. primi-
genius is above the Boulder Clay and the E. meridionalis in the
Norwich Crag. Also that the E. primigenius and E. antiquus
are found together in the newer beds at Erith, Ilford, Beading,
and some half-dozen other places I could name, have long satis-
fied me.

If I could have spared time I should have much liked to have
gone over some of the coast with you and Mr Gunn. There is a
spot between Cromer and Weybourne where I have found bones
in situ, but there was nothing determinable. A further and
longer search was necessary. It was at the base of the cliff.

Along the greater part of the Norfolk cliffs my belief is that
the mammalian remains are confined to the beds beneath the
Boulder Clay, and that they are not found in the Boulder Clay or
in the beds above it, with a few rare exceptions. — Pray make
my kind regards to Mr Gunn, and believe me to be, ever truly
yours, JOSEPH PRESTWICH.

Accompanied by Professor Morris, he started on a
Yorkshire excursion on the 17th July, and was joined
at Blisworth by Mr Samuel Sharp of Northampton.
Into this brief excursion, which occupied but a fort-
night, many important observations were crowded.
Besides the occurrence of " Drift," our geologist was
in quest of Boulder Clay, and his pen and pencil
were fully engaged. After seeing the Dallington pits
they proceeded from Kettering to Bockingham, and
then to a close inspection of the cliffs at Bridlington,
Filey, and Speeton.

At Scarborough Mr Leckenby's collection was visited,
where Prestwich took note of a specimen of Cyrena
consobrina (fluminalis), found in gravel at Hedon,
near Hull.

From gravel-pits at Beverley their next point was
Market Weighton, where a section is drawn of a large
white gravel-pit ; thence to Holmehill, Bidgemont, Paul

JET. 48.] EASTERN COUNTIES. 157

Cliff, and Hull, at all of which sections are noted, and
especially careful drawings of Kelsey Hill and Kelsey
Hill Pit. These localities are only a few of those
visited in this memorable fortnight ; its work wound
up with sketches of gravel-pits at Water Newton and
at Orton, near Peterborough.

Early in September Prestwich was again out on
field-work. Several pages of a note-book are covered
with sections near Whitstable and Swale Cliff, which
are succeeded by many pages of sections near Canter-
bury, following a few sentences of notes. At Can-
terbury he was joined by Professor Morris and Dr
Melville.

Late in September a fresh start was made, and many
observations are registered, beginning with Bury St
Edmunds, and through an interesting East Coast dis-
trict, ending with Hoxne, &c. The geological work
done was no make-believe. One biographer has described
what was accomplished in a year as " amazing." When
it is remembered that field -geology was his holiday
work, it is difficult to understand how so much could
have been crowded into a single year. It may be
partly accounted for in that his City partner released
him as much as was possible, but chiefly in that, wher-
ever he turned his steps, whether for business or pleas-
ure, he was always geologising. The contents of the
sixty note-books — the entries, alas ! in several, faint by
the lapse of time — would form at least one bulky printed
volume. A chronicle of the Life of Joseph Prestwich,
to be faithful, should trace his progress step by step,
and record those innumerable journey ings made year
after year, from cliff to cliff, from section to section,
when, to use his own expression in speaking of the
eastern counties, he knew every yard of ground. The

158 GEOLOGICAL EXCURSIONS. [i860.

number of these geological journeys is simply bewilder-
ing, especially as debatable points were visited over
and over again.1

A letter from Sir Charles Lyell 2 to the Rev. W. S.
Symonds, dated October 1, 1860, contains a reference
to Prestwich's work : —

My idea of going to South Wales, and taking your district on
my way, and getting the benefit of your co-operation, was depen-
dent on some progress having first been made by Prestwich, Fal-
coner, and Colonel Wood in regard to the age of the South Wales
caves, with not only Elephas primigenius, Rhinoceros ticliorhinus,
but also some of them with the other elephants and rhinoceroses
(E. antiquus and R. leptorhinus, now called by Falconer R.
hemitcechus), the age of these relatively to the glaciers, glaciation,
and submergence of Northern Wales, and the deposition of the
northern Drift.

Again, on October 2nd, a geological excursion is
reported to Hertford, when sections of a new cutting
at Hatfield, with those of gravel-pits at various points,
at Collier's End and near Puckeridge, are given.

The following letter is addressed to Dr Falconer, who
was about to spend the winter on the Riviera :—

J. Prestwich to H. Falconer. 10 KENT TERRACE, Uth Oct. 1860.

MY DEAR FALCONER, — I am very sorry I missed you on the
last two occasions I called at Sackville Street. However, you
can have no difficulty about Amiens. The pits are near at hand
and easily accessible. I hope M. Pinsard may be at Amiens to
show you the collections. The one you should first see is not the
town collection near the Hotel de Ville, but a small collection in

1 An account of some of these journeys is given in "Memoranda, chiefly
on the Drift Deposits in various parts of England and Wales : being
Extracts from the Note-books and other MSS. of the late Sir Joseph
Prestwich," printed in the Geological Magazine, Decade iv. vol. v. pp.
404-417, 1898.

2 Life and Letters of Sir Charles Lyell, vol. ii. p. 358.

J5T. 48.] GEOLOGICAL EXCURSIONS. 159

the Salle at the Jardin des Plantes, at the N.W. corner of
the town. You will there find a good series of the fossil bones
from St Koch. If you cannot meet with our M. Pinsard, try to
see M. Gamier at the Bibliotheque, or M. Ferguson, fils.

It was M. Pinsard who lent me the elephant's tooth from St
Acheul, and to whom the uncut tooth of the rhinoceros from
Boves belongs. I should much [like] to have a few lines from
you after your visit to Amiens, with your opinion of the pits
and the bones.

Field - geology for this year was by no means at an
end. Wells-upon-Sea is the locality where he was at
work on 28th October ; a description of its marshes
within the sea-wall being followed by pages of sections
of the railway-cuttings near Walsingham. Next day
he was at Irstead Rectory, with his old friend the Rev.
John Gunn, who, with the Rev. S. W. King (of Sax-
lingham, near Norwich), joined in a visit to Bacton.
After Happisburgh and Mundesley, Norwich was visited
on the way back to London.

Before starting on a tour to the west, a working
expedition was made to Brentwood with Professor
Morris.

The long western journey began on the 9th November
with a section at Froxfield, four miles from Hungerford.
Two days later, Prestwich was at Frome, sketching
as usual, and in pursuit of the tusk of an elephant,
which had been found at Fairwood, three miles from
Frome, in making the railway. Langport occupied one
day, and Exeter was reached on the 16th. From Truro
he proceeded to St Agnes Bay, where, although there
was no evidence of any raised beach, a deposit of sand
and clay spread at the eastern base of St Agnes Hill,
and also over its western shoulder, attracted his
attention. From Penzance he went on to Falmouth,

160 PRESERVATION OF BONES. [i860.

where he was rewarded by the exhibition of a fine
raised beach, of which several sketches were drawn ;
thence to Bideford, Sidmouth, &c., in search of gravel-
pits and Drift. Axminster was reached on the 25th,
whence visits to Colyton, Seaton, and Axmouth
brought this western journey to a close.

In those short November days our geologist must
have worked from sunrise to sunset.

J. Prestwich to H. Falconer. LONDON, 7th December 1860.

MY DEAR FALCONER, — I was much obliged by and interested in
your letter giving me the account of your visit to Amiens, with
the results of your inspection of the fossil bones. I made the
extracts you allowed me to do, and then handed the letter to
your brother. I much wish, however, not only to have your
remarks for my own perusal, but I should much like to give
them in the appendix to my paper, as their palseontological
bearing is so important. I do not, however, feel at liberty to do
so before consulting you and showing you what I should wish to
print — this, not only for your permission, but also in case you
wish to make any alteration.

With regard to the happement a la langue, I am not inclined to
attach very much importance to it. I find it varies much in
specimens from the same deposit. Much depends upon the
nature of the bed and its facility of percolation by water.

The lower level and greater accumulation of water, and the
loose gravel of St Eoch, would, I think, lead generally to a more
rapid decomposition of the bones than at St Acheul, especially in
such beds of the latter place which contain any iron. There is
also a great difference between bones or teeth which occur in
sand and in chalk rubble : the latter are much less robbed of their
original materials, the matrix of carbonate of lime robbing the
water of its carbonic acid before reaching the bones.

With regard to the theoretical views, I must discuss them with
you hereafter. I may here merely mention that I think the
lower gravel as well as the sand above it to be of fluviatile origin,
and not of very tumultuous origin, for in it there are at places

JET. 48.] ST ACHEUL. 161

seams of sand similar in composition, and containing the same
fresh-water shells as the sand above. The top brick-earth and
gravel I feel disposed to attribute to some more active and power-
ful agency. I think, with you, that St Koch and St Acheul can-
not be separated by material interval. (The hippopotamus tusks
from the former place adhere strongly to the tongue.) M. Pinsard
has sent me the levels of St Acheul. I hope you find your winter
quarters pleasant and suitable, and hoping shortly to hear from you,
I am, my dear Falconer, very truly yours, J. PRESTWICH.

I have just returned from a month's journey in the West.

J. Prestwich to H. Falconer. LONDON, 27th December 1860.

MY DEAR FALCONER, — I wrote you a short time since to ask
your permission to give an abstract or extract of your last letter
to me, referring to the elephant remains at St Acheul and St
Eoch. I enclosed also a copy of that portion of your letter which
bears on the subject. I could either give your information in
the form of a short paragraph in the Appendix, or, as the revise
is still in my hands, I could add the E. antiquus to the list of St
Acheul organic remains, with a note stating it was on your auth-
ority: probably this would be the better way, as it would be
more certain to be seen. I wait, however, your sanction before
taking either step. As I expect I shall shortly have to give in
the last revise, would you be so kind as to oblige me with an
answer at your early convenience ?

I understand that remains of the hippopotamus have been
found this autumn at St Acheul. I have not yet been able to
see the specimen, which is in Mylne's possession.

Boucher de Perthes writes me word that he has now found
several specimens of the Cyrena consobrina at Menchecourt. He
also asks whether you are in town, and [says] that he was looking
for a visit from you this fall.

We have had several hard Scotch papers this session, and with
a further store in reserve. Nothing yet bearing upon the super-
ficial deposits.

The weather here has been very severe for the season. My
thermometer marked 9° at 8 A.M. on Christmas day. I trust you
are enjoying a mild and pleasant winter, &c. . . .

L

162 RECULVERS. [1861.

J. Prestwick to J. Evans. LONDON, 5th Janry. 1861.

MY DEAR EVANS, — I have this instant seen four flint imple-
ments of the true race. One specimen is identical with one of
my best lance-head shaped specimens from Amiens ; a second
has the point broken and is rolled ; a third is stained brown and
is also worn ; whilst the fourth is a good honest Tertiary flint
pebble about the size of a goose egg, one half chipped into a point,
and the other end retaining its pebble form. They were brought
me by a Mr Leech, who found them on the shore at the bottom
of the cliffs between Herne Bay and the Eeculvers. The cliffs
are there capped by gravel, but he could not get at it.

He is going down again, and will look for more and for the
deposit of them. — I am ever truly yours, J. PRESTWICH.

The first excursion in 1861 was apparently that on
February 23rd : " With Evans to Strood, Herne Bay,
and Reculvers." Mr Leech joined them at Faversham,
when they proceeded to Whitstable — a, frequent resort.
The two friends were both successful in finding flint
implements on the expedition to the Reculvers, and
Mr Evans was rewarded by the discovery of one at
Swalecliffe.

The Easter trip is briefly mentioned : " 27th March.
To Newhaven and Dieppe with Captain Galton." *

The same system of work was carried out — numerous
sections drawn, with explanations and notes ; the
shingle, gravel, and angular flint - rubble examined.
" Out of Eu and on the right is a large pit of loess —
no shells. Ascending the hill of Canbles, we found the
sides fringed with some seven or eight terraces, and
the top capped with Tertiaries (Cyrena, Ostrea, &c.),
sand, and clay." Precy and Creil were also visited.

J. Prestivich to Sir G. LyelL April 9, 1861.

MY DEAR SIR CHARLES, — Thanks for the account of your

1 Afterwards Sir Douglas Galton, K.C.B.

Photo by Dickinson, London.

SIR DOUGLAS GALTON, K.C.15

JET. 49.] JAMES WYATT. 163

Abbeville proceedings. The implement question is, I think,
now as clear there as at Amiens. On my first visit I myself
got three knives or flakes from the flint-bed under the Sable
Aigre. On my last visit the workmen procured four more for
me from the same bed, and you now have obtained five more. You
say you reached the Chalk. Did you meet with the bed of sub-
angular gravel immediately over it ? I just reached it, but did
not traverse it. It is the lowest bed which you saw at the Porte
Marcade.

With regard to Mautort, there can, I think, be little doubt
of the occurrence of marine shells. At Ducastel's pit a little
boy, hearing my inquiry, said, " Oh yes, I have seen (using the
common name for Littorina littorea, which I forget) " come out
of the bottom of the pit."

The pits you saw at Maneil were those which I visited. Were
the men at work when you were there ?

The pit at Epagne is on the hill on the road to the pits at St
Gilles.

I still have my doubts about the shells at Drucat. One frag-
ment was a mere hollow piece of white flint. The sands are
bent in all the pipes there, but I did not clearly see the connec-
tion between the indentation where the flint was found with any
pipe at present exposed. I have a rude white implement from
the upper beds. I have been all the way up the valley from
Abbeville to St Eiquier. It is full of brick-earth, but no gravel
till at St Eiquier — and that very angular and earthy. I also
went to Ouen, but the pits there are now filled up. They were
in the valley near the brook, and three to four inches deep. —
Ever truly yours, J. PKESTWTCH.

The following letter is of special interest : it an-
nounces the discovery of flint implements in the very
spot indicated by the two friends :—

J. Evans to J. Prestwicli. NASH MILLS, April 18, 1861.

MY DEAE PKESTWICH, — Jubilate ! Wyatt has found the flint
implements we have so long been looking for at Bedford. I en-
close his letter and sketch, which please return, and am writing
to him that I hope to be at Bedford at 10.30 on Saturday, if it

164 BEDFORD. [1861.

will suit him to meet me. Can you come ? I am in a state of
disgust at finding that we have a long-standing engagement to
dinner on Saturday, the 26th. It is to meet a bishop with a
beard, which in this shaving diocese of Eochester is a rare priv-
ilege, and under all circumstance cannot be neglected. If you
cannot come any other Saturday, you must come all the same
that day, and arrange for Monday being spent somewhere " in
the Drift " : but if you can go to Bedford this Saturday, perhaps
Miss Prestwich would meet you here on our return and arrange
to spend a few days. You can go backwards and forwards to
Suffolk Lane just as well from here as from Kent Terrace, and
sleeping in the country will do you good. I don't wonder at
Wyatt being half crazy at his discovery. It is most wonderful
and satisfactory. We must go down and have a regular day
there without delay. Excuse this hurried and distracted letter.
Ever yours, JOHN EVANS.

J. Prestwich to J. Evans. LONDON, Thursday.

MY DEAK EVANS, — I also had a note from Wyatt, and rejoiced
to hear of his discovery. Two other notes (to Sir C. Lyell and
Mr Homer) turned up at the Council yesterday. Sir Charles
proposed going down as soon [as] possible. I told him of my
visit to you on Sunday week, and fixed to meet him at Bedford
on the following Monday. I might alter the day, but, after the
long postponement, I think it had better stand, notwithstanding
the Bishop. If I am down early on Saturday I can find plenty
of amusement and occupation in your library. Besides there are
the children, and I have no doubt Master Norman will feel him-
self fully equal to receive his papa's guest. So I come on the
understanding that it makes no difference in your and Mrs
Evans's proceedings. In fact, consider me in the nursery for the
evening.

I have asked Wyatt to have a pit opened for our visit, and I
am ever truly yours, Jos. PRESTWICH.

This discovery of flint implements in the Bedford
Gravel was of great importance. In the year 1858
Prestwich had known of the occurrence of remains of

JET. 49.] BEDFORD. 165

elephant and other extinct mammalia in the railway
cuttings there, and when visiting it with Evans, after
their return from Abbeville in 1859, they fixed on Bed-
ford as a likely place to yield implements — Mr Evans on
a later visit directing Mr Wyatt to turn his particular
attention to the Biddenham pit, where the two well-
formed flint implements were actually found. This
discovery, following on the recognition of flint imple-
ments in the valley of the Somme, was corroborative
and irresistible evidence in support of the theory of the
geological age which Prestwich assigned to primitive
man. The prediction of the two enthusiasts having
been so literally fulfilled, was a well-earned triumph
for both.

Sir Charles Lyell, in a letter1 to Sir C. Bunbury,
dated 26th April 1861, mentions this visit : "I am laid
up for a day or two after an excursion to Bedford with
Prestwich and Evans to see a section where a Mr
Wyatt, editor of the Bedford provincial newspaper, has
just found two hatchets of the true Amiens and Hoxne
type. They occurred in a gravel pit at Beddingham
[Biddenham], which I visited more than thirty years
ago."

In June our geologist was alone when working out
the district round Shelford and Cardington.

According to a foreign note-book, he was at Chartres
on the 26th July, examining the remains of Elephas,
Rhinoceros, Hycena, and Cervus in M. Boisvilette's
collection, also a species of Hippopotamus which he
emphasises as being distinct from H. major. An
elaborate section is given of Le Mans. High-level
gravel is noted near Caen, and " Drift " in a cutting
at Bayeux. From Charenton he went to St Sauveur,

1 Life and Letters of Sir Charles Lyell, vol. ii. p. 344.

166 MOEL TRYFAEN. [1861.

thence by St Lou to Cherbourg, and on by rail to
Paris, where several days were spent in viewing the
collections in the Nicole des Mines and in the Jardin
des Plantes.

This French excursion was one of close work. The
heights at which gravel and other "Drift" were found
are recorded, and the composition of these in each
locality is carefully noted. He was preparing for an
important paper on the geological age of the Drift de-
posits, which was read next year at the Royal Society.

The letter which follows was probably written at
this date : —

J. Prestwich to H. Falconer. KENT TERRACE, Saturday [1861].

MY DEAR FALCONER, — City business drove yesterday morn-
ing's work out of my head for the rest of the day.

On my return at night I looked over my Grays specimens,
and now send you the results of Heer's examination. I hope
next winter to clear up some of the points of doubt, and add to
the list before publication. Of the Mundesley woods, cones, &c.,
the only specimens that could be determined were, as I told you,
Pinus abies — common ; Pinus sylvestris — rarer — together with a
seed vessel. . . .

PLANTS — GRAYS.

Quercus robur, var. sessiliflora ? Hedera Helix. Vaccinium
myrtillus ? ? ? Pteris aquilina ? ? Alnus ? Cyperus ? Fagus ? ?
Eubus. Populus. Equisetum and Phragmites.

This is very good so far.

In September he was at work at Highbury with his
friend Mr Alfred Tylor.

J. Prestwich to Sir Charles Lyall. Sept. 16, 1861.

MY DEAR SIR CHARLES, — You will find the best account of
Trimmer's Moel Tryfaen case in his paper " On the Drift of the
Cambrian Chain." He mentions only two species of shells, the

JST. 49.] GLACIAL SUBMERGENCE. 167

Fusus Bamffius and Fusus antiquus. On this evidence alone,
the question of age could hardly be decided. In Derbyshire I
have got marine shells at a level, I imagine, of at least 700 feet
above the sea.

Of the extent of the old glaciers in Switzerland there can be
little doubt, and I am of your opinion that the Neuchatel block
was transported by glacier action. With regard to the extent of
subsidence during the Glacial period, that period lasted so long
and witnessed so many changes that I hardly know how I should
fix it. If, however, you take, as you propose, the whole period,
then I should be disposed to leave very little of Scotland, Wales,
or England above water. Without going very fully into the
question, your map seems to give a fairly correct approximation.

I was at Wycoinbe yesterday, and discovered another Elephant
and Cyclas bed near Princes Eisborough. I have sent on your
note to Eamsay, and I am very truly yours, J. PRESTWICH.

The three papers from his pen published during this
season were evidently founded in part upon observations
made in the early spring, and also upon his researches
in previous years. The first on the list, " On some
New Facts in Relation to the Section of the Cliff at
Mundesley, Norfolk," appeared in the ' Geologist,' vol.
iv. pp. 68-71. Mundesley had been a favourite haunt.

The second, which came out in the Geological
Society's Journal, was entitled : " Notes on some fur-
ther Discoveries of Flint Implements in Beds of Post-
Pliocene Gravel and Clay ; with a few Suggestions for
Search elsewhere." The materials for this paper were
doubtless obtained from his researches in Suffolk, at
Bury Sb Edmunds and Icklingham ; in Kent, between
the Heculvers and Herne Bay, and at Swalecliffe near
Whitstable, which he had visited again and again in
the hope of finding flint implements. At last John
Evans was fortunate enough to discover on the shore
an oval-shaped implement identical in form with those

168 MR JOHN BUSKIN. [l862.

so common at Abbeville. A long list of localities is
given where, by diligent search, flints fashioned by the
hand of man are likely to be found.

The third paper, also published in the Geological
Society's Journal, is " On the Occurrence of Cyrena
fluminalis, together with Marine Shells of Recent
Species, in Beds of Sand and Gravel over Beds of
Boulder - clay, near Hull ; with an Account of some
Borings and Well-sections in the same District." This
memoir doubtless embodied his observations when on
the Yorkshire tour in the preceding year.

A note of thanks from Mr Huskin for a copy of the
Flint Implement paper is expressed in quaint terms : —

DENMARK HILL, 6th January 1862.

MY DEAR SIR, — Eeturning on the last day of last year from
Switzerland, I find on my table your most interesting account of
the flint implements of the French Tertiaries, inscribed, " With
the author's compliments." Pray accept my best thanks. I
wish we were all reduced to " flint implements " once more —
and could only fight with arrow-heads — and hadn't chemistry
enough to poison them. — Most truly yours, J. EUSKIN.

The geological memoir which was read at the Royal
Society this year, and published in 1864, was one in
which its author widely generalised, and was entitled :
" Theoretical Considerations on the Conditions under
which the (Drift) Deposits containing the Remains of
Extinct Mammalia and Flint Implements were accum-
ulated, and on their Geological Age. On the Loess
of the Valleys of the South of England, and of the
Somme and the Seine."

The following letter apparently refers to this
Memoir : —

JET. 50.] RIVER DRIFT. 169

J. Prestwich to H. Falconer. KENT TERRACE [undated].

MY DEAK FALCONER,— Thanks for your friendly criticism. I
am, however, going to contest some of this. First, with regard
to river floods.

There is no doubt but that the peculiar position of the
Siberian and North American rivers is one condition in the case,
but it is not the only one. There is not the same damming up
by ice, but still the floods in rivers such as the Kama and the
Volga, which flow from north to south, are also annual and
considerable. (See Pallas's Voyages, vol. vii. pp. 39, 210 ; vol.
i. p. 296.)

So again in Lapland the rivers with a southern flow are sub-
ject to very considerable spring floods. Wrangell also speaks
of the floods in Southern Eussia as well as Murchison (his ' Eus-
sia '). They both mention that whole districts are flooded, and
the river valleys converted into great lakes. The majority of
these rivers have a southern flow. In more northern regions,
Eichardson and Simpson speak of the small local floods caused
by the melting of the snows, quite independent of the great
rivers. As I mentioned yesterday, I conceive the effect of a
severe winter must be to store up the rainfall and restrict its
delivery to a short period in the spring — whence increased river
discharges and floods.

Now with regard to the hippopotamus I give its tusk-teeth
legitimate use, but still I am not disposed to give up the cold
winter and its cold- climate associates. It is certainly found with
the reindeer, and I am inclined to believe that the gravel at
Hurley Bottom with the hippopotamus, and that at Taplow with
the musk-ox, are synchronous. I do not suppose the cold to
have been so extreme as at the Terrace Gravel period, and if
there were rapids in places on the old rivers at such parts, there
might have been open water all the winter. Otters are found
frequenting such rapids in the severe climate of North America,
and in rivers which at other places are frozen all the winter.

R. A. C. Godwin- Austen to J. Prestwich.

CHILWORTH, March 30 [1862].

DEAR PRESTWICH, — Thursday evening last places me under
the obligation of saying how much I congratulate you on your

170 MEMOIR ON DRIFT. [l862.

last paper. I am glad that you took the subject in hand, for I
fancied that others, if not poaching on your land, were at least
establishing " squatter rights " on what you had left unoccupied.
It was with feelings akin to wonder that as the paper proceeded
I found that you had become a Glacialist, but for a long time I
fancied that you were putting such conditions in a hypothetical
form only, and that the coup de grdce was at last to be dealt out.
I congratulate you on this.

We have heard of thee

"zeal
Which young and ardent converts feel" ;

and on thinking over the matter since, I am still of opinion that
you will do better not to have recourse to so low a mean winter
temperature as you have named.

There is a difficulty in the river theory, in placing the terrace
gravel of St Acheul with that at Menchecourt, unless you sup-
pose that all at that place belongs to the second or lower valley
gravel. I do not see any objection to this, but I know that such
was not your notion at one time. Hooker was mightily taken
with the speculation as to the ice-hatchets, but I must confess
that I do not like it. As perhaps this offspring may be a
favourite, I will not ask you to discard it, but I think that if
you mentioned it in a footnote it would be enough.

I would examine into the question of the Dreissena polymorpha.
I have no doubt but that the shell will turn out to be a D.
Brardii washed out from the upper Paris Basin beds, where
it is often most abundant. In the Mainz basin it is washed into
the alluvia of the Ehine. — Yours ever truly,

EGBERT GODWIN- AUSTEN.

The first note-book entry for 1862 is, "Easter Ex-
cursion, 17th April : J. Evans, J. Lubbock, J. P.

" Route. — St Valery, Abbeville, Beauvais, Rouen,
Nantes, Poissy, Paris, Creil, Amiens ; back on Monday
morning the 28th inst."

Although only one geological memoir proceeded from
his pen in this year, there was another publication

JET. 50.] REPORT ON WINES. 1*71

which, in its exhaustiveness, is quite as remarkable.
He was one of the jurors for the International Ex-
hibition for 1862, and was requested to draw up the
report on wines, &c., of different countries. It was
published in the form of a booklet, and is written with
the concise clearness which characterises all his work.
As one who knew him throughout life observed, " Every-
thing that he did was done in the best possible way."

J. Prestwich to Sir Charles Lyell. KENT TERRACE [1862].

MY DEAR SIR CHARLES, — ... I have been much engaged
during the last two months at the Exhibition (as a juror in
Class III. section C), and have done but little geology. I have
been down at Hertford, and took the opportunity of looking
again at parts of the valley of the Lea. The high-level Gravels
are tolerably well shown, and are of considerable extent. The
lower-level gravels are more obscure — neither contain shells, but
both elephant and rhinoceros have recently been found in the
latter. The Boulder Clay is just now well shown in a small pit
near Woodhall Park (Abel Smith's). It is full of pebbles and
small boulders of hard chalk, many of them scratched.

Next week I am going to the North, taking Stamford, Ketford,
Gainsborough, Hull, Malton, and other places on my way to
Eichmond. Thence by Stainmoor to Kendal. Then to Black-
pool, Preston, and Manchester, back by the 1st August. I call
on Mr Wood at Eichmond, and Mr Binney meets me at Kendal
or Blackpool. I shall be glad to hear by bearer how you are,
and I am, dear Sir Charles, yours very truly, J. PRESTWICH.

This year, to judge from the evidence of note-books,
was as notable for the amount of field geology as its
predecessor. Early in June, "With J. E. to Wol-
verton, a neighbourhood where certain gravel - pits
proved of special interest." July 12th was the date
on which Mr Prestwich started on a tour in the
northern counties, when a visit was made to Settle

172 GEOLOGICAL EXCURSIONS. [l862.

and the Victoria Cave, and where he found his way
again to Cefn and Llangollen. During the first week
in August he was in the eastern counties, working from
pit to pit.

J. Prestwicli to J. Evans. LONDON, 7th August [1862].

MY DEAR EVANS, — I hope to go to Auvergne next week early.
I shall spend a day in Paris. When Daubre*e was here he
expressed a great wish to get a copy of your paper. I don't
know which. He said he saw it at Babbage's. Can I take a
copy over for him?

I have had a very pleasant excursion north. I was a day at
Settle, and saw the Victoria and other caves, and the collection
of British and Koman antiquities of Mr Jackson. I also spent
a day at Salop and Wroxeter. I have since been to Colchester
and Saffron Walden. I there saw at the enclosed address a
so-called British coin, but it appeared to me to be too fresh and
sharp, and the metal too undecided. The device was all right.

A fortnight's tour in Auvergne, beginning on the
12th August, was one of keen enjoyment, the volcanic
character of the ground traversed being of special
interest. Towards its close our geologist summarised
in a sentence : —

The general features of this excursion so far are the un-
disturbed position of the scoria, the slight decomposition of
the lava, the . great decomposition of the granite and gneiss,
and the considerable decomposition of the trachytes, and the
absence of drift.

J. Prestwich to J. Evans. LONDON, 22nd September 1862.

MY DEAR EVANS, — You deserve your excellent sight from the
excellent use to which you apply it. I fancy I can do pretty
well in a state of rest, but for geology in motion none equal you.
It is truly progressive geology. I am glad you have traced the
source of the gravel. I am quite ready for the hunt. Shall it
be direct, or from Cambridge ? Orton should be visited again.

JST. 50.] GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 173

It is the same bed no doubt. What a pleasant excursion you are
taking. You and Mrs Evans must enjoy it much. When at
Torquay, visit Hope's Nose and see the raised beach (if you have
time). First, however, see Brixham and adjacent caves. Mr
Pengelly, to whom make my kind regards, is, I understand, at
Torquay, and will give you any information. As you pass up
the valley between Axminster and Chard, look at the gravels.
See also the gravels on cliff between Dawlish and Star Cross. I
hope to [be] at Cambridge from the Saturday to the Monday
evening. — Ever truly yours, J. PRESTWICH.

September and October were full of short geological
expeditions made from town, first, in examining well-
sections at Reigate and other localities, later on at
Erith and Ilford (both of which places had been visited
a score of times) in quest of elephants' teeth and other
fossil remains.

The following letter shows the cordial relations exist-
ing between Prestwich and the officers of the Geologi-
cal Survey, and their appreciation of the accuracy of
his work : —

J. Prestwich to H. Falconer. 10 KENT TERRACE.

MY DEAR FALCONER, — You asked me the other evening to let
you know what I had contributed to the new geological map.1
The case stands thus : Thirty years ago I commenced exploring
the neighbourhood of London, and, seeing there was no map, I
laid down the boundaries of all the beds at the same time that I
worked out their superposition. Wishing to make the work
complete, and with a view to publication, I worked hard at it for
some 15 to 20 years. Just, however, as completed, the Survey
came up with me, and Sir H. De la Beche asked me for the use of
my maps, which I gave him ; and which I have since continued

1 This probably referred to the Greenough Geological Map published by
the Geological Society, new editions of which were largely based not only
on the work of the Geological Survey, but on that of Prestwich, to whom
the Geological Survey was greatly indebted.

174 GEOLOGICAL MAP. [l863.

to give to Eamsay as required. Whether I shall do anything
further with them I know not.

When the new map was commenced, I gave Mr Best my rough
MS. maps, and from them he reduced all the London Basin
district, with the exception of the portion adjacent to and west of
Newbury. The Eastern counties I had not so accurately sur-
veyed, and therefore only laid them down from my note-book and
recollection.

I send you some of my working maps that you may judge of
the extent of work, which, though long and laborious, was to me
for many years a source of great pleasure, recreation, and health.

I have received your parcel, which I shall have much pleasure
in taking to M. Lartet, and I am, ever truly yours,

J. PKESTWICH.

P.S. — I have not always kept to the same colours. I com-
menced the Chalk in pink after Buckland, but ended in having
it uncoloured, as also the marsh lands. The Gault and Upper
Greensand count for nothing, being [on] a more general plan to
match the boundary of the Chalk and Tertiary outliers. The
North Down Crag I have also only put in red outlines.

In his address to the Geological Society in 1865, Mr
W. J. Hamilton referred to the publication of a new
edition of the Greenough Geological Map of England
and Wales, mentioning the name of Mr Prestwich
among " the most active contributors to this work."
He states that " Mr J. Prestwich has supplied the
geological data for the Tertiaries round London and in
Kent, and the Bagshot series in Surrey and part of
Berkshire, from his own MS. notes on the 1-inch
Ordnance maps, at which he had worked from 1835 to
1855. From the Newbury district to the Isle of Thanet
and Harwich the new map adopts Mr Prestwich's
divisions and outlines as far as could be done with the
imperfect topography of the original plates. Mr Prest-
wich also undertook to put in the Chalk, Crag, and Drift

2BT. 51.] ATHENAEUM CLUB. 175

areas in Norfolk and Suffolk, and adopted the division
of only two Crags, a conclusion at which he had arrived
after some years' labour, but which he had not laid
down on any previously published map." l

The Geological Survey has at all times been indebted
to various geologists, who, labouring out of pure love of
the science, have made maps and recorded sections
which have been generously placed at the service of the
Institution. De la Beche himself gave the results of
many years' private work in the south-west of England
as the basis on which the Geological Survey was founded.
Godwin-Austen gave effectual help in Devonshire, Wil-
liam Sanders in Somerset and Gloucestershire, William
E. Logan in South Wales, and later on Prestwich
largely aided the field -staff by allowing copies to be
made of his Tertiary work in the western portions of
the London Basin.

On the 3rd March 1863 Prestwich had the honour
of being specially admitted into the Athenaeum Club
by the Committee, who have power to elect annually
nine men who have gained distinction in science,
literature, or art, or in the public service.

The following letter gives the date when the struc-
ture of the Ouse Valley was made out :—

J. Prestwich to H. Falconer.

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY, SOMERSET HOUSE, Tuesday.

MY DEAR FALCONER, — I have just seen Evans. We go to
Peterborough, March, and Oundle at 9 A.M. on Saturday next,
returning at 8.15 P.M. on Monday. We shall not go to Bedford.

Should you go, you will easily find Mr Jas. Wyatt. He is, or
was, the editor of a paper, and resides at the other end of the
town, near a church. There are a few specimens also in the
museum ; and a man of the name of Read has the original haul

1 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xxi. p. Ivi.

176 ANTIQUITY OF MAN. [l863.

taken from the railway-cuttings, which first drew Evans and me
there after my return from St Acheul. I see by my note-books
that I first made out the structure of the Ouse Valley at Bedford
in 1854. .

The Easter excursion is thus mentioned : " 7th
March 1863. — To Peterborough with Evans and Lub-
bock." They geologised at Peterborough, March,
Essendine, Oundle, and Orton, &c.

The publication by Lyell in 1863 of his 'Antiquity
of Man ' brought prominently before the general public
the geological evidences of the great age of the stone
implements. Lyell was naturally regarded as the judge
who would better than any other geologist sum up the
evidence, and place it clearly and intelligibly before
those who had no special scientific knowledge. So suc-
cessful was his great book that soon a second edition
was called for ; and a third edition was issued before the
end of the year, two months later. It was unfortu-
nate, however, that his treatment of the history of the
subject was in important respects so meagre that the
labours of the original investigators were not made
manifest. Dr Falconer drew attention to this in the
pages of the 'Athenaeum' (April 14, 1863), and, writing
with the authorisation of his friend Prestwich, he
pointed out how important it was to state clearly how,
and by whom, the antiquity of man was established ;
whereas Lyell had mentioned certain conclusions as if
they were original results arrived at by himself, and
had failed in many cases to indicate the sources whence
his information was derived.

In his reply, Lyell contended that he could not give
a full history of the various views, and that all his.
readers wanted was to learn from him, in as few words
as possible, what his own conclusions were, after read-

JET. 51.] LYELL. 177

ing what others had written, and after examining him-
self the clearest sections to which he could get access.
A letter from Prestwich (dated April 20) was published
in a later number of the ' Athenaeum/ wherein the
writer pointed out that Lyell was addressing a scien-
tific as well as a popular public, and that it was not so
much a question of frequent as of accurate reference to
the authorities who had established the antiquity of
man.

This correspondence was at the time naturally pain-
ful to all concerned. If we turn to the fourth edition
of the 'Antiquity of Man,' published in 1873, we find
that the author completely recast the chapter relating
to Brixham Cavern and Kent's Hole, and that the
history of research both among cavern and river de-
posits was as fully told as the original workers could
desire. Prestwich and Falconer had been the pioneers
in the inquiry throughout, and were the patient in-
vestigators of the evidence.

M

178

CHAPTEE VII.

1863-1870.

HUMAN JAW OF ABBEVILLE — EOYAL COAL COMMISSION KOYAL

WATER COMMISSION PRESIDENCY OF THE GEOLOGICAL

SOCIETY.

HITHERTO the excavations in the valley of the Somme
had yielded a rich harvest of worked flint implements,
yet no vestiges of man himself had ever come to light.
But on the 9th April 1863 a startling announcement
was made by M. Boucher de Perthes in the ' Abbevil-
lois,' the local paper of that date. In this he asserted
that a workman had found a " human jaw " with flint
haches in the Couche noire of the gravel-pit of Moulin
Quignon. In a letter of the 14th, from the late Dr
W. B. Carpenter, F.R.S., which appeared in the 'Athen-
aeum' of the 18th, he remarked: "I may add that
the gravel -bed of Moulin Quignon is about 100 feet
above the present level of the river, and therefore
corresponds in position with the upper Gravels of St
Acheul, not with the lower Gravels of Menchecourt, so
that if we accept the conclusions of Mr Prestwich as to
the relative ages of these Gravels, this human jaw was
buried in the deepest, and therefore the oldest, portion
of the earliest of those fluviatile deposits."

JET. 51.] MOULIN QUIGNON. 179

But the authenticity of the jaw, which M. Boucher
de Perthes firmly believed to be of the same age as the
accepted palaeolithic implements, was generally quest-
ioned in face of his assertion of having extricated it
with his own hands on the 28th of March 1863. The
announcement, as we have said, had been made early
in April, and two days later Evans and Prestwich were
at Abbeville, Falconer following on the 14th, when the
evidence was most minutely examined and sifted.
Naturally the most lively interest was shown in the
subject on both sides of the Channel. Falconer at first
had been inclined to believe in the remote age of the
jaw, but the " deliberate scrutiny " of the materials
which he carried away from Abbeville compelled him
eventually to alter his opinion.

M. de Quatrefages, the eminent naturalist, was also
on the spot, and carried the jaw back with him to
Paris, while M. de Perthes confided to Falconer a
detached molar from the jaw, which he took to London
for examination. Here it was submitted to his two
friends, Mr George Busk, F.R.S., and Mr (Sir John)
Tomes, F.R.S., both of whom were practised anthro-
pologists. They proceeded to saw up the detached
molar from Moulin Quignon, and the question was soon
settled. To quote Falconer's words, — it proved to be
quite recent ; the section was white, glistening, full of
gelatine, and fresh-looking. There was an end of the
case. First, the flint hatchets were pronounced by
highly competent experts (Evans and Prestwich) to be
spurious ; secondly, the reputed fossil jaw showed no
character different from those that may be met with in
the contents of a London churchyard.

M. de Quatrefages, like the majority of his French
confreres, persisted in the jaw being a genuine fossil,

180 FOSSIL HUMAN JAW. [l863.

and at first seemed to think that any doubt of its
authority was a reflection on the honour of France.

" The French savants, the more they went into the
case, were more convinced of the soundness of their
conclusions ; while their English opponents, the more
they weighed the evidence before them, were the more
strengthened in their doubts."

To settle the question definitely, it was agreed that
a conference between the English savants and their
French brethren should take place, and that for this
purpose the former should proceed to Paris. As is
evident from his note on the occasion, Falconer wrote
with boyish glee at the prospect of a good fight : —

H. Falconer to J. Prestwich. 5^ May 1863.

MY DEAR PKESTWICH, — Make your arrangements instanter.

Dr Carpenter has called on me with a formal cartel from
Quatrefages, challenging me, you, and Evans to go over to Paris,
and to do battle about the Moulin Quignon human jaw.

I have written to Lartet, accepting.

Carpenter as " avvocato di Diavolo," i.e., pro, and I, con, start
by the mail train of Friday next, 8th, for Paris.

Either you or Evans must come. He cannot — you can. Get
ready, oh Gravel Sifter ! and send me anyhow all your forged
Moulin Quignon hdches.

Try and get Alfred Tylor to deliver up his one.

The term "gravel sifter" was applied to Prestwich
in a humorous and satirical caricature of a scientific
controversy, entitled " Report of a sad case, recently
tried before the Lord Mayor, Owen versus Huxley,
in which will be found fully given the merits of the
great recent Bone Case."

This was attributed to Dr Pycroft of Exeter, and
it was printed anonymously in April 1863. It was

2ET. 51.] OWEN VERSUS HUXLEY. 181

reprinted, except the last paragraph, in ' Public
Opinion' for May of the same year.

In the course of the case the following conversation
is supposed to take place :—

The Lord Mayor here asked whether either party were known
to the police ?

Policeman X. Huxley, your Worship, I take to be a young
hand, but very vicious ; but Owen I have seen before. He got
into trouble with an old bone-man, called Mantell, who never
could be off complaining as Owen prigged his bones. People did
say that the old man never got over it, and Owen worrited him
to death ; but I don't think it was so bad as that. Hears as
Owen takes the chair at a crib in Bloomsbury. I don't think
it be a harmonic meeting altogether. And Huxley hangs out
in Jermyn Street.

Lord Mayor. Do you know any of their associates ?

Policeman X. I have heard that Hooker, who travels in the
green and vegetable line, pats Huxley on the back a good deal ;
and Lyell, the resurrectionist, and some others, who keep dark at
present, are pals of Huxley's.

Lord Mayor. Lyell, Lyell ; surely I have heard that name
before.

Policeman X. Very like you may, your Worship; there's a
fight getting up between him and Falconer, the old bone-man,
with Prestwich, the gravel-sifter, for backer.

J. Preslwich to M. Edouard Lartet. LONDON, 5th May 1863.

MY DEAR SIR, — I much wish I could accompany Dr Falconer
to Paris to assist and aid at this curious inquiry respecting
the Abbeville jaw, which promises to be one of the causes
cttelres in science. When Mr Evans and I called on our ex-
cellent friend M. Boucher de Perthes early in the morning of
Monday the 13th of April, M. de Perthes at once showed us the
jaw, together with the flint implements he had found with it.
About the jaw I will say nothing more, as we were not com-
petent witnesses as to its peculiarities, and as to its fossil con-
dition we had no opportunities of examining.

182 MOULIN QUIGNON. [1863.

We were, however, both at once struck with the peculiar form
of all the flint implements, with the sharpness of their angles,
and with their peculiar soiling. We, however, reserved our
opinion and went to look at the pit. Unfortunately a fall of
the gravel had taken place, and the section was covered up so
that we could only see one end of it. That there was a black
band was evident, and one fact struck me in favour of the
probable authenticity of the specimens, which was, that hereto-
fore all the specimens of the flint implements had been obtained
from the ochreous gravel, and it seemed to me that if ignorant
workmen wished to imitate the real specimens, they would
rather have adopted the usual matrix than have sought one
which was exceptional. As we were walking to St Gilles from
Moulin Quignon, one of the men took two specimens from his
pocket and gave them to me. These were both from an ochreous
or ferruginous matrix, and it seemed at once evident to us that
they were both false. I therefore took the opportunity to wash
one at the first cottage we came to. All the soil came off im-
mediately, and left the flint quite fresh and clean and sharp.
This further evidence satisfied us both then that some imposition
was practised, and immediately we got back to Abbeville I at
once told M. Boucher de Perthes of our doubts and suspicions
about the workmen. He did not see it in the same light that
we did, even after he had himself washed one of the specimens.
We were unable to stop longer to follow up the inquiry, and I
only much regret that M. de Perthes did not mention in a
sufficiently pointed manner our doubts to Dr Falconer and M.
Quatrefages, as it might have led to a stricter examination of the
flints on the spot and more reserve on the part of my friend. It
was only in fact after washing and close inspection that the
nature either of the jaw or of the flints could be determined.
They were all so much soiled, and that seemingly with intent.
The reasons why I doubt the genuineness of the flints are these : —

1. Their shape upon a type different (only slightly) from all
others previously found at Abbeville or Amiens.

2. The sharpness of all their angles, whereas all the specimens
I had previously seen from Moulin Quignon showed more wear
than the specimens from any other locality except La Porte
Mercade.

Mf. 51.] FLINT IMPLEMENTS. 183

3. The entire absence of staining and discolorisation, except
such slight effect as might be produced by a few days' contact
with the matrix, whereas I had never before seen one specimen
out of six (if so much) but what were much stained and per-
manently discoloured, usually "brown, at times with traces of "black.

4. The absence of all dendritic markings, and of any portion,
however small, of the matrix adhering. Such absence is most
unusual.

5. The great number of the specimens. I had been before
some six or eight times to Moulin Quignon, and have never
been present at the discovery of a single specimen, nor had the
workmen any to offer me.

6. The evident soiling of all the specimens as though they
had been put in gravel and then water thrown over them, or
as if they had been taken in the hand and rubbed with wet
gravel and sand. In fact, on two specimens I have seen distinct
streaks produced by the passing of gritty particles over a wet
surface and of adhering matrix.

These are my chief reasons ; on the other hand, I must admit
that I have seen two specimens which have the appearance I
assign to the false ones, and which yet show on one side a certain
amount of wear. Some few specimens also are so close to the
genuine forms that it is most difficult to distinguish ; and further,
Mr Antonio Brady, who has just returned from Abbeville, and
who has been in the habit of visiting the gravel -pits around
London, has been to Moulin Quignon and carefully examined the
section, and seems satisfied of the genuineness of the discovery.

I have now given you the " pros and cons " respecting the flint
implements and of this remarkable case. I am still satisfied that
there is imposition in some, if not the greater part, of the flint
implements, and that of course throws a doubt in my mind on
the whole affair. The ultimate conclusions must, however, depend
upon a close examination and analysis of the jaw, and in the able
hands in which the matter now rests I have no doubt the truth
will be elicited. I much regret to hear how much our difference
of opinion affects M. Boucher de Perthes, and nothing would
please me better than he should be able either to substantiate
this case or be the first to prove another. — Believe me to be, my
dear sir, truly yours, J. PRESTWICH.

184 COMMISSION OF INQUIRY. [l863.

J. Prestwich to J. Evans. LONDON, Saturday [1863].

MY DEAR EVANS, — I have a letter of twelve pages with a
supplement of two from Boucher de Perthes. Dr Falconer, Car-
penter, and Busk went to Paris last night. I have a letter from
Lartet this morning. He much wishes you and me to go over :
I have just decided to do so, and am off by this mail train to-
night. If you have anything to say, or if you come, you will find
me at the Hotel de Tours. Will Friday next suit you as well
as Wednesday to meet Dr Torrell ? I shall write to him from
Paris. I hope to be back on Tuesday, but it is uncertain. — Ever
truly yours, J. PRESTWICH.

J. Prestmch to H. Falconer. LONDON, 9th May 1863.

MY DEAR FALCONER,— I have arranged to run over to Paris,
and shall start by mail train to-night. As M. Quatrefages could
not attend a meeting to-day, in consequence of his lecture, until
after 4J, I suppose there will not be much done to-day, and that
I shall not be much after time if I present myself to-morrow
morning. I propose stopping at the Hotel de Tours, and will
call at M. Lartet's between 10J and 11. I feel the case to be
one in which the good understanding with our French friends is
so much concerned that I feel as you do, most anxious to discuss
in a personal and amicable interview all points of difference, and
have therefore arranged to play truant from the City for two or
three days.

I shall bring over a few more specimens with me, together
with various gravels and some fragments of bone. An revoir. —
Yours ever truly, Jos. PRESTWICH.

Pray thank M. Lartet for his kind letter to me received to-day,
and which has considerably influenced my decision.

The English deputation consisted of Messrs Prest-
wich, Falconer, Busk, and Carpenter, while the French
members consisted chiefly of members of the Institute,
— MM. de Quatrefages, Edouard Lartet the palaeon-
tologist, Desnoyers the geologist, and Delesse, professor

JET. 51.] MOULIN QUIGNON. 185

of geology, with Milne-Edwards the zoologist as their
president. Other distinguished naturalists joined in
the investigation, as, for example, M. Albert Gaudry
(our geologist's old and valued friend), M. A. Milne-
Edwards, and the Abbe Bourgeois. Mr John Evans,
who, as we have seen, had taken the keenest interest
in the inquiry from the time the asserted discovery
had been made, was prevented by other engagements
from joining at this stage.

Three meetings of the Commission were held in
Paris early in May 1863, the proceedings being con-
ducted with great solemnity. Each member present,
whether French or English, had been led to recognise
the value of M. de Perthes' discovery of flint imple-
ments in the valley gravels of the Somme, by the
persuasive power of one of their number, who perhaps
was the most silent though not the least thoughtful in
that remarkable assemblage. It was Prestwich who
had won them all to a belief in those old worked flint
implements. Nor was his influence the least among
his fellow-members of the Conference.

Unable to agree, they adjourned to Abbeville, where
the members were reinforced by the presence of M. de
Perthes, with that also of several eminent savants, such
as MM. Hebert, de Vibraye, &c. The sitting was
prolonged far into the night at the quaint old Tete de
Boeuf. They separated at 2 A.M., only to reassemble
a few hours later for the summing up. The proces
verbaux of each meeting had been voluminous and
minute, but the evidence was so perplexing that there
was only unanimity on the first clause, namely, " The
jaw in question was not fraudulently introduced into
the gravel - pit of Moulin Quignon : it had existed
previously in the spot where M. Boucher de Perthes

186 FOSSIL HUMAN JAW. [l863.

found it on the 28th March 1863." Thus the proceed-
ings of this cause celebre came to a close.

The result of the conference was a bitter disappoint-
ment to M. de Perthes, since his English friends,
although acknowledging the fact of the human jaw
having been truly found as he described, yet refused to
admit that it belonged to a remote antiquity. His
letters subsequently to Prestwich and Falconer were
more than pathetic. * To the latter he wrote, " Vous
m'avez tue!" Still he had achieved a great work:
he had obtained public and full recognition of his flint
Mches as the tools and weapons of primitive man.
" Besides, he had the support among the members of
the Commission who were his distinguished countrymen,
and might well have been content to leave the age of
the famous human jaw as it rested in the minds of his
English friends — in doubt."

It had been painful to Prestwich and Falconer to
differ in opinion from their French confreres as to the
remote age of the jaw, but the latter were conscious that
their English brethren were loyal, and actuated solely
by their convictions, and by anxiety to arrive at the
truth. If we except the natural disappointment of
M. Boucher de Perthes, the two sections (the French
and English) separated with the same old feeling
of friendship and esteem, and with a perfect under-
standing between both parties.

J. Prestwich to H. Falconer. ABBEVILLE, 13«A May 1863.

MY DEAR FALCOKER, — I seem scarcely to have had time to
have a word with you the last few days. It is, I must confess,
with surprise I find myself at the conclusion to which we have
arrived. The case is a remarkable one, and apart from a few
impatient words, has, I think, been most fairly and friendly

JET. 51.] FOSSIL HUMAN JAW. 187

conducted. It is with pain, however, I have watched its effects
on you the last two days. For my own part, I am truly glad
the difference has been so speedily arranged and the mistake
corrected. I must take some blame to myself for expressing an
opinion in default of not having better studied the section. To
you there attaches nought but the most honourable straight-
forwardness. . . . We are just off to Boulogne. My kind
regards to M. Lartet.

In another note to Falconer of the 20th May, he
wrote, " I am glad to hear matters have passed off
so well in Paris. Don't you go and fraternise with
Elie de Beaumont. You see I am losing all reverence
for high authorities."

There was a humorous side to the deliberations over
the human jaw :—

II. A. C. Godwin- Austen to j. Prestwicli.

CHILWORTH, May 21 [1863].

MY DEAR PRESTWICH, — Strange that whilst mine of yesterday
was on its way to you, a copy of the ' Abbevillois ' should be on
its way here, in answer to my doubts.

I recognised the pen of M. B. de Perthes, but has it all passed
off as he narrates ? If so, it must have been an interesting sight.
I can picture the procession se renclant clicz M. de Perthes pour
lui [faire] leurs felicitations.

Milne- Ed wards. Quatrefages.

Lartet. Delesse.

Vibraye.

(Here come the three English heretics.)
Hebert. Desnoyers.

L'Abbe Bourgeois. Garrigou.

Gaudry. Delanoue.

A strong rearguard, for fear Falconer should bolt.

Here in England we must have a day : the Eoyal, Geological, and
Anthropological Societies must muster in the quadrangle of

188 BEDFORD. [1863.

Burlington House, a fire must be kindled, and into it must you,
and Falconer, and Lyell, and Tylor cast in all that you have
written against B. de P. and his gravel-diggers.

On the same day you shall be limited to such a dinner as
Galton shall order for you at the Athenaeum. — Being yours
truly, EGBERT A. C. GODWIN- AUSTEN.

J. Prestwich to H. Falconer. 2 SUFFOLK LANE, 25th May 1863.

MY DEAR FALCONER, — I was not anxious to write to the
' Athenaeum,' and as your short notice appeared last week, I think
I had better say nothing. ... I might then have said a few
words about the beds, but should have been silent about the
jaw. This, in fact, will be very much the subject of my paper
to the Geological Society. I wish to confine myself strictly to
the geological evidence, as the important question of the age of
the beds has again been raised by Elie de Beaumont. The two
points are independent— don't let us mix them. We were at
Bedford yesterday. I wish you could have been with us. I
had no intention of going when I went to ISTash Mills on Satur-
day. Mr Wyatt was from home : I, however, called on my ac-
quaintance Eead, and found his collection from the railway-cutting
still unsold. I made a bid for it, and have obtained possession.
It contains some capital specimens. One remarkably fine tusk-
tooth of hippopotamus. Several teeth of the same and of rhin-
oceros, deer, elephant, felis, &c. Also 2 small tusks of hipp.
Would you kindly look at this collection? I should much
like to give a corrected list of the Bedford mammalia in my
notice of the Bedford beds forming part of my paper now before
the Eoyal Society. I am sorry to find that neither Christy nor
Busk can dine with us to-day. — Ever yours, J. PRESTWICH.

As might be expected, a paper on the subject from
Prestwich was read at the Geological Society, entitled,
" On the Section at Moulin Quignon, Abbeville, and on
the Peculiar Character of some of the Flint Implements
recently discovered there." The following letter refers
to it :—

^T. 51.] ABBEVILLE. 189

J. Prestwich to H. Falconer. 2 SUFFOLK LANE, 29th May.

MY DEAR FALCONER, — I send you the title of my paper. I
have ascertained that the 3rd and 4th papers do not come on.
So I hope you will be able to bring on your notice about the
jaw, which I now think you were right in wishing to have on
the same evening as my paper, especially as there is but one
more meeting after the 3rd June. The 1st part of my paper on
the Geological question I shall send in to-morrow, but the 2nd
part on the Flints I must reserve till Tuesday, after our return
from Abbeville, when I hope the question of their authenticity
or forgery will be finally settled by the further opinion of Evans,
Flower, Lubbock, and possibly Austen.

As the matter now stands, Evans considers, as you, that there
is some inexplicable mystery about the matter which he cannot
explain. This, however, is a question of fact respecting which I
hope he will be able to satisfy himself one way or the other on
this visit. Not so the jaw, about which I can well understand
your reserve, though I do not share it. There is the same
mystery, whilst unfortunately there are not the same means to
investigate it. As the section has been worked so many feet
back, I do not see how now it can ever be solved without the
discovery of another jaw or human bone in the same position,
or, if there has been fraud, by the confession of the culprit. I
send you Delesse's letter, which please return.

A note-book entry after the conference records : —

30th May 1863.— 3rd visit to Abbeville with Evans, Lubbock,
and Wickham Flower. Dr F. Garrigou of Toulouse met us at
Abbeville.

31st, morning, to 1'Hopital Champ de Mars and Moulin
Quignon. One flint implement found by us in talus, seemingly
just fallen from black-band. . . .

Out to Mesnieres by Mautort and Moyenville.

A letter on " The Human Jaw of Abbeville," which
appeared in the ' Athenaeum ' of June 13th, was from

190 FOSSIL HUMAN JAW. [l863.

Prestwich' s pen. The following note bears reference
to it : —

From John Evans to J. Prestwich.

NASH MILLS, HEMEL HEMPSTEAD, June 17, 1863.

MY DEAR PRESTWICH, — I got back to London this morning,
having left Belfast yesterday and spent the day in Dublin. I
had to get down here by midday or I would have called, as I
should like to have had a chat with you about two letters I have
seen to-day — yours to the ' Athenseum,' and one to me from
Keeping. I think yours "judicious," and at the same time
" suggestive." It gives one rather the impression of a palimp-
sest MS., in which beneath the modern writing one can discern
the traces of an earlier and more valuable document. However,
I quite agree with your standing up for your French and absent
friends, and admire your audacity in calling my deliberate ex-
pression of opinion after holding my tongue so patiently, " think-
ing aloud." Also aren't the finger and brush marks just like
sand scratches ? Mes yeux ! as Quatrefages would say. . . .

J. Prestwich to H. Falconer. 2 SUFFOLK LANE, 19th June 1863.

MY DEAR FALCONER, — Pray think over what I talked to you
about yesterday. Eemember that Delesse particularly asked to
have any errata or omissions pointed out to him for correction,
I presume before publishing in France. How much better that
the version so corrected should be published there and here, than
that a wrong version should appear, subject to comments and
corrections which would be unnecessary and superfluous, if, in
conformity with Delesse's wish, the opportunity be given him to
correct if he saw occasion. I do not in fact see how, without
offence, publication can take place without previous communica-
tion. I should feel aggrieved if I were in Delesse's place. You
have known my opinion all along about these corrections, and I
think you have seen Delesse's letters both to Dr C. and to me.
I told Delesse I saw little to alter, and that agreeably with your
request I had returned you the Proces Verbaux to complete your
examination of them. Any notes or corrections beyond my own
remarks I of course did not touch upon, presuming that each

JET. 51.] GEOLOGICAL EXCURSIONS. 191

member would see to his own. I foresee trouble enough with
the difference of opinion on the main question, but I should be
very sorry to see other causes of differences with the French
members introduced. I wish to have no share or part whatsoever
in the contemplated publication. As I told Delesse, I had little
to alter or comment upon. My opinions are fairly represented,
and subsequent events I have recorded as far as I wish to record
them in the ' Athenaeum ' and at the Geological Society. With
you it is different. You wish, if I understand rightly, to show
that your protest implied more than the P. V. gives, and you
amplify your reasons. At what time do you meet on Sunday
morning ? I will try to be present, altho' my head and hands
are full of other matters at present, as my partnership here
shortly expires, and the question of renewal is just now under
discussion. I had some idea of going to the Scotts at Walton.
If I don't, I will make a point of calling on you on Sunday
morning. — And I am ever truly yours, Jos. PRESTWICH.

J. Prestwicll to H. Falconer. ' 2 SUFFOLK LANE, 2±th June 1863.

MY DEAR FALCONER, — Thanks for your note and enclosure.
I know Lexden, near Colchester, very well. I have visited it
several times, both alone and with John Brown. The fossils are
not found in a bed of true peat, but in a carbonaceous bed a foot
thick, [such] as occurs occasionally at Grays, but more especially
like the Mundesley bed. It is overlaid by loess. . . .

On the 18th July Prestwich was again out on a
geological tour, beginning with Whitchurch and in-
cluding eighteen different localities, ending with Port-
land Bill, &c. Later on he was at Thame, and on
September 6th he was working out the district round
Grayshot, near Haslemere, and Heigate.

J. Prestwicll to J. Evans. LONDON, lith Sept. 1863.

MY DEAR EVANS, — ... I am thinking of running down to
Newmarket to-morrow evening, and back on Monday morning. /
must revise, if possible, my sections of Bedford, Icklingham, Herne
Bay, and the Waveney Valley for my Philosophical Transactions

192 ROYAL INSTITUTION. [l864.

paper, and I do not now see what time I can get except my old
plan of Saturday night to Monday, and making each a separate
excursion. I must also try for two days at Amiens.

I shall be glad and curious to hear what you saw and what
you did at Icklingham. Can you give me a few lines by the
morning's post, or have you not been there, and will you go ?

September 1 5th was the date of this visit to Bedford ;
on the 19th he was at Herne Bay, and on the 26th at
Icklinorham.

o

Early in October he was measuring the heights round
Harleston, while on the 25th he was back in the valley
of the Somme, ascertaining the levels and dimensions
of the beds round Amiens and St Acheul. This expe-
dition was at least the fourth to the Amiens district
during the year.

The first notice of a geological expedition in 1864
was to " Fareham — Bed Lion, with Evans, 14th Feb-
ruary 1864." In describing the coast at The Hook, he
observes : " Gravel rises from the sea-level, and con-
tinues without break to highest part of the cliffs — 30
feet high. Here on the beach, midway, J. Evans found
a flint implement of the St Acheul type — worn, but not
stained."

During the spring, one of the Friday- evening lectures
was given by Prestwich at the Boyal Institution, its
subject being, "On the Quaternary Flint Implements
of Abbeville, Amiens, Hoxne, &c. : their Geological Posi-
tion and History."

The following letters are of interest :—

J. Prestwich to J. Evans. 69 MARK LANE, LONDON, 6th May 1864.

MY DEAR EVANS, — I don't think you have ever been to the
Isle of Sheppey. What say you to Sittingbourne and the Island,
back mid-day on Monday ? Or else Walton and Clacton ? I will

Ml. 52.] SOCIAL LIFE. 193

fix, however, definitely, this evening; and if you can call to-
morrow at Kent Terrace, or write me here, to say when you will
call, I will give final instructions.

To the Same. LONDON, 2Qth Jutie 1864.

MY DEAK EVANS, — My sister and I are going to Kickmans-
worth this morning to look at the house you name. I have,
however, just bought eleven acres of land at Shoreham in the
valley of the Dart. The sale came off on Friday afternoon, and
the situation is so charming, and the opportunity so rare, that I
sent down Mr Ellis to bid for me. The drawbacks are that
there is not a drop of water, and scarcely an inch of soil on the
ground. It is a bare piece of chalk-down with a topknot of wood.

Late in August he was at Walton -on -the -Naze,
where, as he remained several days with his sister Civil,
there was leisure to sketch sections and to visit locali-
ties within reach, such as Clacton, &c., where elephant
remains had been found.

" Grays, Sept. 1864. — With Austen and Tylor."

The above brief entry precedes minute descriptions of
thirty-three localities.

" Sept. 17, 1864.— To Horshamand Petworfch," where
he was at work on the new line of railway ; then on to
Chichester and Bognor.

While thus in vague and general terms indicating the
unswerving devotion to his favourite science — how he
availed himself of every possible opportunity for its
prosecution, and how it absorbed so large a portion of
his daily life — it must not be forgotten that the social
side of his life was a very full and active one. As years
went on the affectionate relations with his family never
relaxed. No week passed without at least one happy
little family meeting, either at one of his sisters' houses
or his own. He was not only a member of the Geologi-
cal Society Club, as previously noted, but also of the

N

194 ROYAL COMMISSION ON WATER. [1864-65.

Philosophical Club, one of the two dining -clubs com-
posed of Fellows of the Royal Society, and he very
frequently dined out with friends. His Christmas and
New Year family gatherings were invariably a success,
when his house seemed to have developed wonderful
expanding capacities.

The delightful entertainments given each Christmas
for the young nephews and nieces, when there was also
a muster of little cousins, were the occasions when our
geologist, surrounded by the children, was in his very
element. It was his custom to provide himself with a
bag of new silver "pennies" for distribution among the
little ones, to whom no party was ever equal to Uncle
Joseph's.

One paper was published in the ' Geological Maga-
zine ' for this year — " The Brick-earth with Elephant
Remains at Ilford."

The following letter from Sir Roderick I. Murchison
refers to Prestwich's appointment as a member of the
Royal Water Commission : —

1st December 1864.

MY DEAR PRESTWICH, — On Monday last the Duke of Buck-
ingham explained to me his views respecting the water-supply of
the Metropolis, as set forth in the paper enclosed, and asked me
to recommend the person best qualified as a geologist to form
one of the new Koyal Commission, of which, at the Duke's sug-
gestion, the Government has approved.

I hope you may be able to join this body, and if you abandon
the Jerusalem search, you may perhaps do so.

At all events, I consider this question of the water-supply
more pressing and more serious than that of the coal-supply ; and
knowing your capacity to aid such a very important material
enterprise, I felt bound to mention you as the person best quali-
fied for the task. — Yours sincerely, ROD. I. MURCHISON.

You will, of course, send your answer direct to the Duke of
Buckingham and Chandos, Council Office.

MT. 52-53.] DEATH OF FALCONER. 195

Another memoir was read at the Royal Society, " On
some further Evidence bearing on the Excavation of
the Valley of the Somme by River- Action, as exhibited
in a Section at Drucat, near Abbeville."

The death of Hugh Falconer, which took place on
31st January 1865, was a severe blow to Prestwich,
who to the end of his life did not cease to lament the
loss of this friend. They had been on terms of close
intimacy almost from the date of Falconer's return from
the East, some ten years before ; they had joined hand
in hand in attacking difficult geological questions ; and
they had made plans for joint work in the future —
plans, alas ! never to be realised. One of the last notes
dictated by Falconer, when unable to hold a pen, was
addressed to Joseph Prestwich, requesting him to take
charge of the interests of a case which concerned a
mutual friend, for whom he had suggested the award of
the proceeds of the Wollaston Fund. " I would have
seen you to-day if I could, but they would not let you
come up," were among the last words dictated by Hugh
Falconer.

In subsequent years, Prestwich was often heard
to exclaim when handling undetermined specimens of
fossil bones, " What work we should have done together
if he only had been spared ! " There was no naturalist
who possessed Hugh Falconer's vast palseontological
and botanical knowledge combined (botany had been his
profession), no one more ready of access or more willing
to co-operate and impart that knowledge. His boyish
mirth and racy originality made him a brilliant com-
panion, while underlying all the glee and laughter-
provoking sallies there was the deeply affectionate and
genial nature which drew Joseph Prestwich as with a
magnet.

196 SANGATTE. [1865.

The Easter excursion, dating 14th April, was made
to Antwerp vid Harwich, when the three friends who
accompanied Prestwich were Captain Douglas Galton,
Mr J. Gwyn- Jeffreys, and Mr Godwin-Austen.

To judge from the ground traversed, this expedition
to Belgium must have been of great interest. Our
geologist, as usual, was in search of Drift and Loess, and
intent on tracing the features of the Gravel deposits,
in which remains of elephants and other extinct
mammalia had been found, the observations of his
friends being quoted and interwoven in his voluminous
notes. When at . Lie'ge they saw the Schmerling
Collection ; and Prestwich noted " the Engis skull
very fresh -looking, so also some of the bear remains.
The Engis Cave worked out."

They were joined at Louvain by M. Van Beneden,
and at Brussels by M. Nyst. Amongst other places
visited were Maestricht, the Engis Cave, Dinant, the
Grotte du Frontal, Namur, Mons, Spiennes, &c. It
must have been hard work to crowd so much practical
geology into a ten days' tour. To make the most
of their time, the journey from Marsieres to Lille
and Calais was by night train. One day was devoted
to an examination of Sangatte Cliff, to which Prest-
wich returned alone on the 24th. He was keenly
interested in the geology of the coast between Calais
and Sangatte, and in going back to the ground wished
to satisfy himself on points which to his mind had
not been perfectly clear. He was desirous of ascer-
taining the composition of the Raised Beach at Sangatte
—the relative proportion of angular chert, pieces of
rolled red granite, lydian stones, and pebbles of sand-
stone, &c.

How many visits were made to the Calais coast ?

JET. 53.] GEOLOGICAL EXCUBSIONS. 197

Shall we say twelve \ Twice twelve would be within
the number !

J. Prestwich to J. Evans. LONDON, 5th August 1865.

MY DEAR EVANS, — You must have had a delightful excursion.
I long to hear the details. I see Dupont has sent in a prelim-
inary report about the caves. I and other members of our Easter
party abstained from any communication on the subject until
Dupont and Van Beneden had made theirs. Do you know
when the final one will be, as I shall then have a short notice
to give of our visit ? I see Dupont has modified some of the
views he held when we saw him. Thanks for your Archaeopteryx
paper. As the 'Header' has taken it up, you will, I expect,
have a battle to fight. . . .

A paper of general interest, evidently embodying
the observations on his Easter trip, was read to and
published by the Geological Society, entitled, " Addi-
tional Observations on the Raised Beach at Sangatte
with Reference to the Date of the English Channel,
and the Presence of Loess in the Cliff Section."

The next entry in a note -book for this year is,
" Aldborough, 20th August 1865. By Snape Bridge
and Tunstall to the Oyster Inn at Butley, with J.
Evans and M. Gaudry, &c."

The object of this expedition was the inspection
of various crag -pits in the neighbourhood, and the
amassing of further materials for his series of Crag
Memoirs.

Weymouth and its geology engaged his attention
in October ; and Blackdown Hill, near Dorchester,
with its great beds of flint, and quartzose gravel, and
transported blocks, was a source of special interest.

The last expedition for this year was apparently that
made "to Thetford with John Evans and Wickham

198 ROYAL MEDAL.

1865.

Flower." Before walking to Brandon by the river
valley, they were refreshed by the sight of eight fine
flint implements belonging to Mr Bartlett.

It was in 1865 that Prestwich was awarded one of
the Royal Medals of the Royal Society, in recognition
of his original researches on the valley-deposits yielding
flint implements and weapons of early man.

J. Prestwich to Sir Rod. I. Murchison.

69 MARK LANE, LONDON, 3rd Novr. 1865.

MY DEAR SIR EODERICK, — Very many thanks for your great
kindness in bringing me forward for the medal of the Koyal
Society, and for the very kind and friendly terms in which you
have announced to me the award of the Council. I am not
usually ambitious of public honours, but I feel deeply sensible
in this case of so honourable a distinction, and especially do
I value it as a mark of the kind interest of my friends, and
amongst them of one so distinguished as yourself.

With many thanks, believe me to be, my dear Sir Eoderick,
most truly yours, Jos. PRESTWICH.

This year was not so notable for field-work crowded
into it as for a step he took which, though apparently
insignificant, had a great influence on his life. During
several years he had been living and working at the
highest pressure — pressure so severe that it could not
go on. It had told on his health ; and, conscious of
the strain, he felt that a measure of rest was im-
perative : the difficulty was to tear himself from
London friends and from the Societies. A happy
compromise was made. A country cottage as a sum-
mer home for him and his sister Civil was first thought
of; but as one to suit was not easily found, Prestwich
decided to build on the few acres of chalk down which
had happened to be for sale, overlooking the valley

MT. 53.] DARENT-HULME. 199

of the Darent, and just above the picturesque village
of Shoreham, amid its hop-gardens. Fascinated by
the views from this hill, he had bought the land off-
hand in the summer of 1864, and now set about plant-
ing and building.

Most men would have shrunk from erecting a house
upon a high position which was bare of trees and
without water ; but the old habit of mind prevailed,
and difficulties were nowhere. It may be remarked
that ultimately the bleak chalk down was converted
into an ideal garden. The first step towards building
was to find an accessible water-supply, for although
the Darent was in sight,—

" The still Darenth, in whose waters cleane
Ten thousand fishes play and decke his pleasant streame," —

yet it was far down in the valley, shining and gleaming
in its tranquil winding course, just as in the day when
Spenser sang its praise.

So confident was Prestwich in respect of water-
supply, that he at once engaged an old well-digger
to sink a well 168 feet deep. The boring proceeded,
but when a depth of 166 feet was reached, the two
workmen went to the city and sought an interview
with their employer, whom they found at his desk.
They explained that there was no sign of water, and
that in their opinion it was useless to bore to a greater
depth. "Go on," was the quiet rejoinder. "You will
come upon water to-morrow. You are within two feet
of it."

Next day it proved exactly as Prestwich had fore-
told ; and ever after, among many of the denizens of
the valley, he had the reputation — much to his amuse-
ment— of not being quite " canny." He knew the

200 DARENT-HULME. [l866.

exact level of the springs in the valley, and that the
well-diggers must touch water when they reached that
depth.

The laying out of the ground and planting were
carried out according to his own plans, those of a
professional landscape gardener who had been called
in not being approved. An Arctic plantation crowned
the highest point, and a clump of berberis where the
soil was most surly; a sophora and a lavender walk
were marked off, but taking precedence of all, the
only level strip of ground was transformed into an
acacia walk. This straight formal path, bordered by
tuft -headed acacias, was to remind him of a garden
in his beloved France. It may be added that these
little acacias have had a hard struggle for existence :
they found the chalk an unfriendly soil, and have
had to be replaced from time to time.

When the foundation of the house was laid, it was
characteristic of our geologist that he invited a little
festive gathering of relatives to share in the proceed-
ings and rejoice with him. The building was an
interest and a recreation, and it is not surprising
that it was destined to illustrate geology within and
without. Tertiary flints faced the outer walls, while
the coigns and mullions were of white Paris stone.
Within, the mantel -shelves throughout were to de-
monstrate the use of English marbles. As a matter
of course, the decorations were geological. The grace-
ful fronds and foliage of the Coal-measures were to be
adapted for cornice ornament, while extinct animals,
which had flourished in this country in bygone ages,
were stencilled in panels on the dining-room ceiling,
and were not grotesque.

It was in this year (1866) that Prestwich was ap-

JST. 54.] ROYAL COMMISSION ON COAL. 201

pointed a member of the Royal Coal Commission, of
which he became a prominent worker. He contributed
two of the sub - reports, — one, " On the Quantity of
Unwrought Coal in the Coal-Fields of Somerset," and
the other, " On the Probability of finding Coal under
the Newer Formations of the South of England." These
were written in 1866, and printed in 1871.

In reply to an inquiry about water - supply on a
farm near Ruddington, four pages of a letter are written
to his young niece Sarah Scott,1 dated 21st May 1866,
and describing the process for freeing hard water from
carbonate of lime. He then proceeds : —

But I suspect the hardness of your house -water arises not
from carbonate of lime, but from the presence of sulphate of
lime (plaster rock), which is much worse and more difficult to
get rid of. Boiling will do something. The best thing to do
is, however, to add carbonate of soda to the water, and then boil
it, when a considerable sediment will be thrown down. Test
with reddened litmus paper to see that no free alkali remains.
One or other of these processes will, I trust, my dear Sarah, save
your complexion and Alice's hands. If they do not succeed,
write me again at once. It is a great bore you have not got
a garden — apply forthwith for a cottage allotment. I should
much like to see your quarters : I hope you will send up a
sketch of them. If you have nothing better to do, write very
often to your affectionate uncle, J. PIIESTWICH.

There is a spice of fun in the suggestion of a cot-
tage allotment : the farm had been taken by a nephew
of independent means as an interesting experiment.

In 1866 Dr Henry Woodward, our chief authority
on fossil Crustacea, published a particular account of
several forms allied to the living king-crabs (Limulus),
which had been described by Prestwich in his early

1 Wife of Mr O'Neill, British Consul at Eouen.

202 DEATH OF CIVIL PRESTWICH. [1866-67.

researches on the coal-field of Coalbrook Dale. For
the two species of Limulus then recorded by Prestwich
Dr Woodward proposed the new genus Prestwichia, as

Prestivichia (Limulus} rotundata, Prestw.

it was necessary to separate the old forms of Xiphosura
from those now living.1

Prestwich was now serving on two Royal Com-
missions, his practical knowledge of each subject
rendering him a valuable member of both. The only
leisure for superintending his planting and building
was snatched on Saturdays, when by the earliest
train on dark winter mornings he and his sister
Civil made their way to Shoreham to watch each
step of progress. But before the end of December
the shadow of death darkened his home, and he
was overtaken by the greatest calamity which had
yet befallen him. This was the death, after a
short illness, of his sister Civil, which took place on
the 27th December. She had been his devoted com-
panion during the last ten years of her life. This loss

1 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xxiii. p. 32.

MT. 54-55.] BOVEY TRACEY. 203

is made known in a few lines to his friend John
Evans :—

10 KENT TERRACE, 27th Dec. 1866.

MY DEAR EVANS, — I have lost the best of sisters. She passed
away this morning tranquilly and without pain. I feel the loss
is to me irreparable. She was my object in life, and so good,
gentle, and affectionate. I feel assured of your sympathy. With
kind regards to Mrs Evans, I am, your affectionate and dis-
tressed friend, J. PRESTWICH.

His kind sister Emily took the vacant place : she
arranged to remain and make a home for him, and soon
the weekly visits to Shoreham were resumed. Happily,
he was as usual overwhelmed with work, and in the
spring he led a little band of his old companions out
on a geological expedition.

flaster Excursion, April 1867. — J. P., God win- Austen, Gwyn-
Jeffreys, and Captain Galton ; joined at Plymouth by Spence
Bate.

This expedition was an examination of the Bovey
Tracey district. The age of its interesting Lignite beds
had, until Professor Heer's determination of the plant
remains, been an unsettled question among geologists.
The accuracy of his opinion that the group of the Bovey
Lignites belonged to the Lower Miocene period has,
however, been questioned by Mr J. Starkie Gardner,1
the leading authority on Tertiary Flora, who considers
the Bovey Tracey fossil plants to be of the same age as
those found at Bournemouth, and therefore to belong
to the Bagshot Series.

Prestwich's object was not so much to explore the
Lignite beds as to examine the geological structure of

1 British Eocene Flora, Monographs of the Palaeontographical Society,
vol. xxiii. (1879), p. 19.

204 ST PAUL'S CATHEDRAL.

Bovey Tracey and the surrounding district, — to trace
every exhibition of Gravel, ascertaining its constituents
and the various heights of its occurrence above the
river. His notes are suggestive and of much interest,
but we give only one brief extract : * —

Beyond Bovey Tracey the rocks are bare ; but descending to the
river at Woolford Bridge, we found ledges of a Gravel terrace
fringing the valley at a height of about 25 feet above the river.
It contained largish blocks of rolled granite, no scratched pebbles,
and is about 4 to 6 feet thick. At one place it is overlaid by
imperfect loess and angular debris. •

To judge from one early morning's start, the little
band of geologists was indeed enthusiastic — " Saturday
by rail to St Austell, at 3 A.M."

An interchange of letters with Sir Charles Lyell
took place this year, in reference to the foundations of
St Paul's Cathedral.

Sir C. Lyell to J. Prestwich.

73 HARLEY STREET, LONDON, 12th June 1867.

DEAR PRESTWICH, — I have been requested by the Dean of St
Paul's to read a page in Wren's ' Parentalia ' (p. 285), in which
he mentions the strata or layers of earth one above another
through which they dug when they made the foundation of
St Paul's.

It is said that the old church had stood on very close and hard
pot-earth, which was about six feet thick, but thinning to four
feet towards the south. Below this they found nothing but dry
sand ; and still lower, water and sand mixed with periwinkles and
other sea-shells. These were about the level of low-water mark.
They continued boring till they came to hard clay. In conclusion,
it is said, "by these shells it was evident the sea had been where
now the hill is on which St Paul's stands."

1 Further notes have been printed in the Geological Magazine, Decade iv.
vol. v. p. 414.

Ml. 55.] FOUNDATIONS OF ST PAUI/S. 205

I remember some years ago somebody showing me a section
which was dug in our time at St Paul's, and my notion is that
the strata belonged to the Plastic Clay and sands below the Lon-
don Clay. Can you tell me whether this is the case, and whether
anything has been printed on the subject ? I suppose Wren
would call any fossil marine univalves, periwinkles.

Milman also asks me what the pot-earth is. I suppose, as he
says that the Eomans made pottery of it, that it may be an
argillaceous bed of the Plastic Clay series ? Wren says that,
viewed by a microscope when dissolved in water, this pot-earth
was impalpable fine sand which would vitrify with fire.

As Milman leaves town in a few days, I should be very glad of
an early reply. Excuse so much trouble, and believe me, ever
truly yours, CHAS. LYELL.

J. Prestwich to Sir Charles Lyell.

10 KENT TEREACE, H*A June 1867.

DEAR SIR CHARLES, — I know of no account of the strata
beneath St Paul's besides that given by Wren. Some time
ago I went carefully into the matter, and the conclusion I
came to was that the beds he described were all Drift beds.

In the 1st place, the London Clay under St Paul's must be
about 140 to 150 feet thick, and in it no bed of sand occurs
about the level of low-water mark. Secondly, if the L. C. had
been traversed, the sand-bed beneath it would at that time (what-
ever may now be the case) have been found full of water. If by
" hard beach " had been meant any of the conglomerate beds of
the Woolwich Series, " sand " and not " natural hard clay " would
most probably have been found under it. It is true that the
words "periwinkles and other marine shells" might naturally
enough have been applied to the fossil Paludina lenta, the
Pectunculus, &c., of those beds, or might apply to some fossils
of the London Clay, especially the masses of univalves occasion-
ally found in the blocks of Septaria ; but the other reasons are,
I think, too strong against the description referring to the Ter-
tiary strata.

On the other hand, " pot-earth," 6 feet thick, and thinning off
to 4 feet, and containing fine sand, applies very well to the top
brick-earth ; under this comes dry sand (the upper part of the

206 WORK AND RECREATION. [1867-68.

sand and gravel is always dry) ; then the lower part of the sand
and gravel, in which the water is held up by the London Clay,
and in which all the old pump springs of London occur, is all in
order. In this part of the series, Unios, Cyclas, Limnea, &c.,
might occur, and it would not be surprising that Wren should
have described them as he did, as the occurrence of a like deposit
in the gravel at Clapton or Hackney was described in some of
the newspapers in nearly similar terms, only about six years
since. Certainly the depth would not be about the level of low-
water mark, as the ground at St Paul's is 40 feet above the
Thames, and the depth to the London Clay cannot be more than
20 to 25 feet, but it might have been considered that " about "
would give the measure near enough.

By " hard beach " I think compact subangular gravel must be
meant. Beneath this, " natural hard clay " applies perfectly to
the London Clay. Pray excuse this rather hurried scrawl, and
believe me to be truly yours, J. PRESTWICH.

There is no record of published papers for this year,
but this is accounted for by the fact of his having
thrown himself with his usual zeal into the require-
ments of the .Royal Water Commission. Every spare
hour was devoted to the delineation of maps, in order
to show the available sources of water-supply. He was
also elaborating the first of his series of Crag memoirs ;
and although he had explored the Eastern counties
times without count, he went again and again into
Norfolk during this year to investigate some special
point, or to obtain some fresh piece of evidence.

The Saturdays at Shoreham had become an institu-
tion, and the garden an unending interest — each shrub,
each tree, being planted under his own immediate super-
intendence. These weekly visits to the garden and
frequent geological excursions were more than ever
needed for the restoration of his health, which had
become impaired by continued high pressure. His

MT. 55-56.] MEMOIRS ON THE CRAG. 207

kind physician, Dr Owen Rees, declared that he was
suffering from " nothing but overwork." If the subjects
on which he was engaged could be passed under review,
we should only wonder that he had not altogether in-
capacitated himself. The Reports for the two Royal
Commissions were imperative, so that his own personal
work had for a time to be set aside. He had been
eagerly amassing and arranging materials for his
memoirs on the Crag ; besides which the Brixham
Cave Committee had passed a resolution that Mr
Brest wich should draw up the General Beport for
the Boyal Society, so that all the special reports
were one by one handed over to him.

Letters to his attached friend, Mr William Colchester
of Ipswich,1 refer to his forthcoming Crag memoir : —

J. Prestwick to W. Colchester.

69 MARK LANE, LONDON, 23rd January 1868.

MY DEAR COLCHESTER, — My long-in-hand paper on the Crag is
coming on at the Geological [Society] on Febry. 26th. Although
my sections are numerous, I find I want some exact levels. Do
you know of any youth at Woodbridge or Ipswich who could run
a line of level from the river at Sutton, passing over the top of
the hill at your farm (and by the old Coralline Crag coprolite
pit), then by the Bullock-yard pit to the Crag pit at Shottisham
— a day's work for 20s. to 30s. ?

I think I must also run down again myself to see it done and
to visit a coprolite pit I have heard of near Orford, and which I
suspect to be in the Coralline Crag. My friend Jeffreys, the dis-
tinguished conchologist, proposes to accompany me. Are you
disposed to join us ? It will be for a three-days' run — camping
out at Bawdsey and Orford. I shall want to spend an evening
also at Woodbridge to see Mr Whincopp. No fixed time yet.
With kind regards to Mrs Colchester and family, I am, very truly
yours, Jos. PRESTWIUH.

1 William Colchester, born July 21, 1813 ; died November 15, 1898.

208 MEMOIRS ON THE CRAG. [1868-69.

J. Prestwich to the Same. [February 1868.]

MY DEAR COLCHESTER, — Mr J. Gwyn- Jeffreys and I have
decided to leave town (Water Commission permitting) on the
evening of Monday the 10th. We shall go to Wickham Station,
and next day make a round of the Orford district. We shall get
to Woodbridge at night, and pass Wednesday at Sutton, return-
ing in the evening to see Mr Wliincopp's collection. Thursday
we shall pass at Bawdsey Cliff.

Join us if you can and if agreeable. As I may want to tres-
pass at Sutton, can you oblige me with a line to anybody there ?
Will you allow me also to dig a hole or holes in your ground ?
We shall leave on Thursday evening. — In haste, I am, very truly
yours, Jos. PRESTWICH.

The first two of his memoirs on the Crag were
published this year in abstract by the Geological
Society, the full text not appearing until 1871. He
also wrote a Report for the Metropolitan Board of
Works, "On Boring Operations at Crossness."

The preparation of the water -maps did not alto-
gether absorb his leisure, since early in May we read
of his being again at Walton-on-Naze, working on
sections doubtless with a view to the completion of
the third of the series of Crag memoirs. The same
object led him to Saxmundham, where, in Mr E.
Cavell's collection, he noted " one beautiful tooth of
Mastodon with Coralline Crag in hollows." Numerous
Crag localities were explored.

During Easter, Prestwich was again at Amiens and
St Acheul, examining the pits to ascertain whether any
new features had been disclosed. Before returning to
England he made a list of shells in M. de Vibraye's
collection from Pontlevois.

In early summer he was geologising with his friend
Evans in the neighbourhood of Nash Mills, the inter-

Ml. 56-57.] DARENT-HULME. 209

esting home of the latter, which is practically a museum
crowded with archaeological and antiquarian riches, and
where our geologist was a frequent guest. He notes,
" June 7, 1868. To Kings Langley, thence with J. E.
to Colney Street."

In July Devizes and Frome were the centres for ex-
ploration, and in August Professor Morris accompanied
him to another old haunt — Grays Thurrock, the attrac-
tion there being a new section, of which several sketches
are given, and in which he discriminates that "these
gravels seem derived direct from the high-level gravels,
and are not like those in adjoining pits."

But the field work for this year was not yet over,
as in October he was hard at work in the coal-field of
Bristol and Radstock, with the geology of which he
was well acquainted.

Early in January 1869 the final move was made to
the house at Shoreham, which was called " Darent-
Hulme " — Hulme being in remembrance of the old family
place in Lancashire. Instead of merely a cottage for
summer sojourn, it was henceforward to be Prestwich's
home, the bulky collections of fossils, minerals, and
flint implements filling every available corner. The
season was midwinter, but he was eager to be on the
spot, ready to watch the first promise of spring. Ter-
race walks had been cut on the steep chalk slope, and
other paths devised, which were concealed from one
another by intercepting shrubberies. The pyramid and
cordon fruit-trees came from the nursery-gardens near
Paris, and indoors as well as out-of-doors there were
numerous reminders of France.

On January 15 Prestwich was elected a member of
the American Philosophical Society, an honour which
he greatly prized.

210 GEOLOGICAL EXCURSIONS. [i860.,

The two companions who joined him at Easter
are mentioned thus: "March 26, 1869. Galton and
Smyth," l with both of whom he was on terms of closest
friendship.

From Paris they made a delightful tour to Cceuvres,
and at Soissons M. Watelet accompanied them in their
rounds. From Rheims they proceeded to Epernay,
and thence to Eilly. Although plant remains of the
Calcaire Grassier had been noted, and lignite beds at
Avize were of special interest, still it is evident that
the object of this excursion -was to note the localities
in which "Drift" could be traced. Later in summer
he was again in Belgium, while in August the district
round Petersfield was explored in pursuit of "Drift";
and for the same object nineteen other localities were
inspected on a brief ten days' tour. The following
letter refers to this expedition, and to the meeting of
the British Association at Exeter : —

J. Prestwich to J. Evans. LONDON, SIst August 1869.

MY DEAR EVANS, — I returned from Belgium here yesterday,
and was preparing for a start to Suffolk to-day. I, however, last
night saw occasion to alter my plans, and am off this evening to
look at one or two points I have omitted to see, regarding the
spread of the gravels between Petersfield and Winchester. I
shall take the opportunity to run on to Southampton and Eomsey
to see the flint implements and gravels there. Can you give me
the exact spots ? — the bearing in inches and from the nearest
church on ordnance map, or still better, if you are yourself dis-
posed to run over the ground again. I shall go to Shaftesbury,
and possibly farther. At present letters will find me to-morrow
(Wednesday), P. 0., Petersfield. On Thursday morning I shall

1 Warington W. Smyth, at one time Mining Geologist to the Geological
Survey, Professor of Mining at the Royal School of Mines, and Crown
Inspector of Mines ; knighted in 1887. Born 1817 ; died 1890.

Photo by C. Esscnhig/i Corke, Scvenoaks.

SIR WARINGTON W. SMYTH, F.R.S.

JET. 57.] ROYAL COMMISSIONS. 211

be at Bishop's Waltham. On Thursday evening at Southampton.
On Friday morning at Eomsey. On Saturday morning at Gran-
borne (?). You seem to have a good meeting at Exeter. — Believe
me to be truly yours, Jos. PRESTWICH.

During this season the maps for the Royal Water
Commission were completed and handed in. Prestwich
in after years was heard to say that they had cost
him two years of hard work. But as the colouring of
these maps for publication was considered too costly,
they were relegated to the Stationery Office, where
(such was his belief) they have been lying ever since.
The subject was one to which he rarely alluded, but
when he did so, it was to express his intention to
request some friend to ask a question in Parliament
as to the fate of his maps. Somehow this was never
done.

In the following letter Sir Roderick Murchison writes
in generous terms as to our geologist's work on the
Royal Coal Commission : —

Sir R. I. Murchison to J. Prestwich.

16 BELGRAVE SQUARE, 21st October 1869.

MY DEAR PRESTWICH, — In the little exordium and brief sum-
mary with which I commence the Eeport on the labours of the
Committee D of the Coal Commission, it is my wish to con-
clude the references I make to geological labours in England to
strengthen our case, by a citation of the general result of your
labours in the district which you undertook to examine. Your
own report in extenso will necessarily follow.

But ad interim a few words of honest praise from your admirer
and old friend can do nothing but good, and it will gratify me to
have your assent for the insertion in my preamble of the accom-
panying paragraph. — Yours sincerely, KOD. I. MURCHISON.

" Even in respect to the well-known coal-fields, parts

212 ROYAL COMMISSION ON COAL. [l869.

of which are covered by various deposits, and wherein
coal exists at greater depths than those of the present
workings, I am bound specially to record my admira-
tion of the researches of one of my colleagues. In his
examination of the Bristol and Gloucester coal- basin,
this distinguished geologist, Mr Joseph Prestwich, has
shown on large maps and elaborate sections, the results
of much close work, that in this tract alone there re-
mains untouched an -amount of coal which, if worked
to a maximum depth of 2000 feet (a depth now reached
in some coal-pits), will last during a period of 850 years
at the present rate of consumption !

" The evidences on which this cheering estimate are
founded are given by Mr Prestwich himself in his
Special Report as one of the Royal Commissioners."

J. Prestwich to Sir Rod. I. Murchison.

SHOREHAM, nr. SEVENOAKS, 24JA Oct. 1869.

MY DEAR SIR KODERICK, — Many thanks for your kind note
and friendly proposal to notice my work in the Bristol coal-
field. I can assure you I very much value the approval of so
old and valued a friend, and my early leader in geology. I
have no alteration to suggest in your paragraph except " Somer-
setshire " for " Bristol," and instead of " will last during a period
of 850 years at the present [rate] of consumption," it should be,
" would suffice for the consumption of the district now supplied
by that coal-field for a period of 850 years at the present rate of
consumption," for my estimates referred only to the local supply
and consumption. — Believe me to be, my dear Sir Koderick,
yours truly and obliged, Jos. PRESTWICH.

Professor Huxley's term of office as President of the
Geological Society being about to expire, the choice
fell upon Prestwich as his successor.

J5T. 57.] PRESIDENT OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 213

T. H. Huxley to J. Prestwich. JERMYN STREET, Dec. 16, 1869.

MY DEAR PKESTWICH, — Many thanks for your letter. Your
consent to become President for the next period will give as
unfeigned satisfaction to the whole body of the Society as it
does to me and your other personal friends. I have looked upon
the affair as settled since our last talk, and a very great relief it
has been to my mind.

There is no doubt public dinner and speaking (and indeed all
public speaking) is nervous work. I funk horribly, though I
never get the credit for it. But it is like swimming— the worst
of it is in the first plunge, and after you have taken your header
it is not so bad (just like matrimony, by the way, only don't be
so mean as to go and tell a certain lady I said so, because I want
to stand well in her books).

Of course you may command me in all ways in which I can
possibly be of use. But as one of the chiefs of the Society, and
personally and scientifically popular with the whole body, you
start with an immense advantage over me, and will find no diffi-
culties before you.

We will now consider this business generally settled, and I
shall speak of it officially. — Ever yours very sincerely,

T. H. HUXLEY.

A few days before his marriage Mr Prestwich, on
the Anniversary Meeting of the Geological Society,
assumed the Presidency on his friend Professor Huxley
vacating the chair. The Anniversary dinner was en-
livened by a humorous speech from the retiring Presi-
dent, who twitted his successor in office on having
forsaken the geological exploration of the Holy Land
for the holy estate of matrimony. This allusion re-
ferred to the fact of Prestwich having assented to
the request of the Committee of the Palestine Ex-
ploration Fund to go out as geologist to the Holy
Land. Somehow public interest in the subject lagged,

214 PRESIDENT OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. [1870.

and the projected expedition was not for some years
organised.1

The following letter refers to this Anniversary
dinner : —

J. Prestwich to Sir Rod. I. Murchison.

SHOREHAM, near SEVENOAKS, Feb. 20, 1870.

MY DEAR SIR RODERICK, — I have to thank you very much and
very sincerely for the kind and handsome and only too flatter-
ing way in which you spoke of my geological work on Friday.
One of the pleasantest recollections of my life was that to which
you alluded, when I, quite as a young man — almost in fact a boy
— met you on your own ground, was taken by you by the hand,
encouraged to persevere, and instructed how to proceed.

I shall always remember with sincere gratitude the effect that
encouragement and kindly sympathy had on me — a kindness
which has been continued and repeated on many subsequent
occasions, and of which I am truly and deeply sensible.

I alluded in my speech to old leadership in the early days of
the Society that was much more active than now. I well recol-
lect the admiration I felt for your work, and the respect I felt
for your opinion, and I know there are still many points in
theoretical geology on which our opinions still show strong
alliances.

I feel extremely thankful everything went off so well the other
evening, and there again I feel much indebted to the support of
kind and valued friends, in the first rank of whom I hope you
will always allow me to consider you. And I am, my dear Sir
Eoderick, most sincerely yours, Jos. PRESTWICH.

Sir E. I. Murchison to J. Prestwich.

16 BELGRAVE SQUARE, Feb. 21, 1870.

MY DEAR PRESTWICH, — I am glad to find that you were grati-
fied with the manner in which I proposed your health at our
anniversary.

1 The survey of Western Palestine was eventually undertaken by Prof.
E. Hull, F.R.S., and his Eeport was published in 1886.

^T. 58.] PRESIDENT OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 215

I spoke from the warmest feelings of my heart, and I re-
joiced that my expressions were so cordially cheered by the
assembly.

So much reliance do I place on your judgment and fairness,
that if it should be considered desirable to have a good record as
to truths of geology prepared under the title of a ' Geological
Bible' you should be the man I would select to bring out such a
work.

Mr [Charles] Falconer has invited me to your wedding and the
ddjeuner, which has much pleased me, and I shall certainly be
present to wish you all joy and happiness. — Ever yours sincerely,

EOD. I. MURCHISON.

216

CHAPTER VIII.

1870-1874.

MARRIAGE — VISIT TO PARIS — ITALY — RETIREMENT FROM
THE CITY — AIX - LES - BAINS — PROFESSORSHIP OF
GEOLOGY AT OXFORD.

ON the 26th February 1870 Mr Prestwich's marriage
took place at St Marylebone Church, London, with
Grace Anne, eldest daughter of James Milne, Esq., J.P.,
Findhorn, Morayshire, and widow of George M'Call,
Esq., Glasgow. She was the niece of his lamented
friend Hugh Falconer, at whose house they had met.

Before proceeding to Italy, Mr and Mrs Prestwich
spent a short time in Paris, taking a thorough holiday.
Several of Moliere's plays were then on the stage, and
as our geologist had a keen appreciation of good French
acting, frequent visits were paid to the Theatre Fran-
£ais, and also to the Opera Comique. With boyish
zest he viewed the popular sights in Paris, and it
would have astonished the members of the Geological
Society not a little could they have seen their grave
President standing with his wife on a bench in the
thick of the voluble French crowd, straining and eager
for a good view of the procession of the Bceuf Gras. It
was a reminder of schoolboy days.

JET. 58.] VISIT TO PARIS. 217

Among the old friends of whom they had a glimpse
were M. Edouard and Madame Lartet, also M. Hebert
and M. Desnoyers — both of geological fame. There was
also one who had shown very great kindness to Mrs
Prestwich in former years, and whose individuality and
originality were so strongly marked that her name
cannot be mentioned without a brief comment. This
was Madame Mohl, author of ' Madame Recamier and
the History of Society in France.' She was the
wife of Jules Mohl, the eminent Oriental scholar ;
and, although by birth an Englishwoman, she had for
a long series of years presided over one of the most
brilliant salons in Paris. Men who were foremost
in science, in literature, and in political life were
habitues of Madame Mohl's salon, where they came in
contact with men and women who had risen to fame as
dramatists or artists. Rank and fortune were them-
selves in her estimation of no account : only individual
merit or personal distinction gave the entree to her
drawing-room, with the exception that to her own and
her husband's old friends — whether distinguished or
not — a warm welcome always greeted them.

Mr and Mrs Prestwich called at an early hour in
the Rue du Bac, and were received by Madame Mohl
in the traditional dressing-gown and in curl papers, the
latter of varied and brilliant hues — red, green, and blue
circulars being utilised for this purpose. She made
no apology for receiving a countryman — a complete
stranger — in this costume, and did not seem to con-
sider that any apology was needed. Her attractive
niece, Miss Mohl, who afterwards became Madame
Helmholtz, was by her side, busily occupied with
her painting. The use of the curl papers was one of
Madame Mohl's small economies which amused her

218 VISIT TO ITALY. [l870.

friends, who knew of her acts of noble generosity and
benevolence.

The quaint, gifted little woman at once plunged into
conversation with Mr Prestwich, getting with direct
questions at the very pith of the subjects discussed,
and becoming so much engrossed as to appear uncon-
scious that any one else was present. Her vivacity
and sagacity and inexpressible charai of manner exer-
cised a magnetic attraction for all who came in contact
with her. She made use of her talents in brightening
the lives of others, and there are many still surviving
who hold dear the memory of Mary Mohl.

Mentone was the point aimed at after Paris, and
where Prestwich made an inspection of the Baussi
Kaussi Caves in the red limestone cliffs to the east of
the town. He ascertained their position and general
features, clambering up to the high - road through
groves of oranges and lemons. The human skeleton in
the cave of " La Berma du Cavillon " had not then been
discovered by M. Riviere — not until 1872.

Mr Matthew Moggridge (who was spending the win-
ter at Mentone on account of his invalid son) was our
geologist's guide to the most interesting points. In one
locality (not named) he showed to Prestwich " a bed
of sandy clay abounding in fossils (sub-Apennine?),
worked for bricks at base of hills half a mile from
sea. The red earth and angular fragments spread
over it and over the valley to the sea. This red
earth was still more apparent in other valleys, and
could be traced 400 to 500 feet high. No more traces
of raised beaches."

Mr Moggridge also pointed out a fresh - water
fountain at sea near the cliffs to the east of Men-
tone, its subterranean course not having then been

MT. 58.] VISIT TO ITALY. 219

traced. He accompanied the tourists as far as Bor-
dighera, whence two days' drive along the coast of the
Riviera del Ponente, with its succession of beautiful
bays and rocky headlands, brought them to Savona.

This was the birthplace of Chiabrera the poet. The
inscription which he wrote for his tomb, to be seen in
the church of San Giacomo, is as follows :—

" Amico, io vivendo, cercava conforto

Nel Monte Parnasso,
Ta, meglio consigliato, cercarlo
Nel Monte Calvario."

The travellers could not, as they wished, read this
epitaph for themselves : they were only in time for
their train to Genoa, where a short stay sufficed for
Prestwich to see the Museum and to call on the Mar-
chese Giacomo Doria, as he was eager to press on for
an exploration of the caverns in the islets at the
entrance of the Gulf of Spezzia. The route lay along
the comparatively less known Riviera del Levante, on
through the magnificent scenery of the hills of Yarese.
Leaving the railway at Chiavari, the journey was con-
tinued in a light carriage to Spezzia, with a halt at
Borghetto to enable Prestwich to visit the cave of
Cassana, where he found no fossils, but satisfied him-
self as to the physical features. The expedition to this
inland cave he made on foot with a desperate-looking
character for a guide, and when his stipulated absence
of a couple of hours was lengthened to several, and the
shades of evening began to fall, the anxiety of his wife,
who waited at Borghetto, was very real. He had
called on the " superiore " of the district, who had con-
ducted him to other caverns in an adjoining valley.
Spezzia was reached in moonlight.

220 ITALIAN CAVES. [1870.

Next day was chiefly spent in a boat on the Gulf of
Spezzia, our geologist being desirous of seeing the Grotta
dei Colombi, situated high in the steep sea -cliff of the
island of Palmaria. The two excellent boatmen took
an interest in his proceedings, and urged that they
should row as far as the islet of Tinetto, which lay
beyond Palmaria, and where they reported a sea-cave
full of living natural- history objects. But suddenly a
burrasco struck them, and with it breakers, which
prevented any attempt at landing. Seeing that Pal-
maria was also impossible, Mr Prestwich directed the
boatmen to row nearly opposite to the Grotta dei
Colombi, and as near to it as possible, eagerly pointing
out its position, but the Italian sailors regretfully
answered that they dared not proceed farther. Head-
ing round, they did their utmost to reach Porto Venere
on the mainland for shelter, where there was a deten-
tion of several hours. This picturesque spot had been
a nest of pirates before it became a stronghold of the
Genoese Republic : it also had its cave, called the
Grotta di Arpaia, more recently known as the Grotta
di Byron, but the sea was running high and it could
not be entered. The cliff in which it is situated
abounded in fossils, which the Porto Venere boys called
the frutta di mare. The detention was not lost time :
the heights and vestiges of buildings were well worth a
visit, the arches of the ruined church showing bands of
black and white marble intact. As the day wore on
the wind fell, and the two travellers, re-entering the
boat, were at last landed at Palmaria, where Prestwich
had a ramble over the cliff and as near a view as
possible of the stratum in which is situated the fossil-
iferous Grotta dei Colombi.

In the row back to Spezzia a fountain of fresh water

Mi. 58.] ITALIAN CAVES. 221

was clearly visible at a distance, from the circle made
by it in the salt water. The water, which was tasted
in passing, was brackish, but the boatmen asserted
that a few feet below the surface it could be drawn up
perfectly fresh. Shelley's house was pointed out — a
white house on a hill of olives above the village of San
Lorenzo and close to Lerici. Two or three boat-loads of
convicts, who had been at work at the arsenal, crossed
our course on their way back to their prison. The
golden sunset was glorious, and each incident in the
day had been like a bit of romance.

By a hill-path through olive grounds and vineyards,
and about a mile from Spezzia, another cave was ex-
plored, named La Bocca Lupara. Most picturesque in
itself and in situation, a fringe of maiden - hair and
other delicate ferns draped the low entrance, and over-
hung the little stream which flowed out from it—
this stream making exit and entrance rather difficult.
Several peasants, attracted to the spot by the appear-
ance of strangers, were employed to burn straw so as to
show its dimensions. These twisted blazing torches had
a weird effect, and their stifling smoke necessitated a
stay for one and all of brief duration. A block of rock
had fallen, obstructing the corner in the cave where
fossil bones had been found.

Very soon Prestwich was across Italy and on the
Adriatic shore, examining the structure of the grand
headland of Ancona. The writer has a vivid recol-
lection of the mode in which his observations were
made, and of the unpleasant sensations in a skiff on a
chopping sea, and of her outspoken protests lest it
should be driven against the wave-washed cliff.

One of the most enjoyable excursions on this Italian
tour was that made from Rome to the Lake of Albano

222 MONTE CAVO. [l870.

and Monte Cavo. Prestwich, with his wife and her
sister, joined M. de Verneuil at Albano, the last
accompanied by the Archbishop of Rheims and Signor
Mantovani of Rome. Dr Laodriot, who was tall and
slight, with great refinement of expression, was young
in years to hold so high a place in the Roman Catholic
Church. He had been noted for his scientific tastes,
and to him it was an evident enjoyment to be able once
more to indulge in his- old love for geology.

An order being given for- good donkeys for the party,
the people of the Albergo replied that the best had all
been taken by American excursionists who had gone on
before. A sorry lot of animals was brought together.
The writer, who was allotted the largest, headed the
cavalcade with the Archbishop, who was mounted on
an absurdly small donkey, which his robe completely
covered, the feet of the animal only showing beneath
it. With his enormous hat, and long inflated robe, he
presented a very ludicrous appearance, and conscious of
this, he laughed until the tears came, the others join-
ing. The animal which the writer rode began to
develop a will of its own, therefore one of the donkey
guides was requested to hold the bridle while its
rider got off. " Keep quiet, Signora," was the ad-
monition sotto voce, " keep your seat ; yours is the only
one that has not been down."

The little animals, however, clambered like goats up
the steep crater-like walls, above which rose Monte
Cavo. Prestwich on foot was soon far ahead of the
party, intent on pondering upon the story to be read
in that marvellous landscape. What added to the
general enjoyment was the cloudless sunshine, the
perfect placidity of the crater lake, the first fresh
foliage of spring which clothed its walls, and the

Mf. 58.] NAPLES. 223

masses of the lovely blue Anemone stellata, starring the
delicate undergrowth.

Several shorter excursions were made from Rome,
including those to Monte Mario, to the Campagna, &c.
Prestwich made the acquaintance of Professor Ponzi,
and, in the Museum of the University of Rome, he
noted remains of three species of elephant — all from
Ponte Molle. It was a pleasure to him also to have
personal intercourse with the courtly Monsignor Castra-
cane, who had written on Diatomacece, and who was
as enthusiastic as ever on his special subject.

As may be supposed, the Bay of Naples and its
neighbourhood were of surpassing interest. Baise and
its classical shores fascinated him, and the time was
only too short for exploring the ground a little way
inland. The pillars of the Temple of Jupiter Serapis,
immortalised by Ly ell's pen, were duly inspected. An
elaborate section in a note-book, now dimmed by time,
was taken from a point one mile east of Pozzuoli ; and
another page gives a section at the end of a street in
Pompeii, and one of the theatre at Herculaneum. A
visit was also made to the entrancing shore of Amalfi.
With his friends M. de Verneuil and Sir Archibald
Geikie, he ascended the Anio, and on the 8th of April
with the latter he made the ascent of Vesuvius, re-
maining the night at the Observatory. Next day
they descended from Somma.

Before leaving Naples, Prestwich had an interview
with the aged Mrs Somerville, who was then living
with two daughters in a flat on the Chiatamone.
She was alone when he called with his wife, the latter
having had the privilege of knowing the authoress
during Dr Somerville's lifetime in the home at Florence.
They were received with the old cordial welcome, it

224 MARY SOMERVILLE. [l870.

giving her evident pleasure to see Mr Prestwich, who
was only known to her by reputation. Her quaint
Scotch accent and the remarkably soft voice were
unchanged, and the simple natural manner was as of
old. Perhaps she had become a shade more grave, still
there was the same serenity, the same unquenchable
thirst for knowledge, and the same trenchant questions.
Her mental powers were keen and clear as ever, and
the penetrating grey eyes, which had not lost their
shining light, were turned full upon the speaker with
rapt attention. Vesuvius and volcanoes were dis-
cussed by Mrs Somerville and our geologist, her room
— flooded with sunshine — admitting a view of the
mountain and the beautiful bay.

Mary Somerville was then verging upon ninety, while
Joseph Prestwich had just completed his fifty-eighth
year. What a picture the two made ! An Ary Scheffer
would have done justice to it. Hers was a glorious old
age. Her last work, which was published in the pre-
ceding year, was on ' Molecular and Microscopic Science/
appearing just three years before her death. For a
motto she chose as most appropriate, " Deus magnus in
magnis, maximus in minimis."

Lingering in Italy and leaving it with regret, Mr and
Mrs Prestwich travelled direct to Paris, crossing Mont
Cenis by the temporary Fell Railway, which wound in
serpentine course over the mountain. They reached
home in time for the outburst of the early summer, for
the blossoming of the may, the lilacs, and laburnums.
During their absence Emily Prestwich had remained at
Darent-Hulme, her brother, before going abroad, having
confided to her the care of the Brixham Cave papers.
His one injunction in case of fire had been, " Whatever
.happens to the house, save the Brixham Cave papers."

MT. 58.] EASTERN COUNTIES. 225

Accordingly, his sister retired to rest, with the parcel
of manuscripts on a sofa at the foot of her bed, and she
was heartily glad to hand it safely back to him.

The home life, apparently so quiet, was a busy one.
Besides our geologist's daily journey to the City, there
were frequent demands upon his time, owing to his
official position as President of the Geological Society.
The most important paper during this year from his
pen was one sent in to this Society, " On the Crag of
Norfolk and Associated Beds." Among minor notices
he edited a MS., " On Earthquakes," written by his
kinsman, Sir John Prestwich, about the year 1798. It
is curious as a record of the crude notions on volcanic
phenomena prevalent so near to our own time. But
the engrossing interest was the elaboration of the third
and last of his series of Crag Memoirs, " On the
Norwich Crag and Westleton Beds," which was to
appear the following year.

For the completion of this memoir several weeks
were spent at Lowest oft in the autumn, whence ex-
peditions were made again to many familiar localities
on the coast, including Gorton and Kessingland ;
repeated visits to pits near Norwich, and visits also
to Bacton, Wangford, Southwold, Pakefield, Easton
Bavent, &c., &c. Thirty-eight different localities were
explored in this East Coast excursion, and forty-nine
sections noted. He was intent on observing every trace
of Westleton Shingle, and on ascertaining the origin of
the boulders occurring in this district in the Boulder
Clay. The discovery of a specimen of gneiss in the
upper Boulder Clay near Kessingland has not been
forgotten. Its weight was beyond the power of any
ordinary mortal to carry, but aided by his sister-in-law,
with immense effort it was moved, or rather dragged,

p

226 ADDRESS TO GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. [l871.

two miles to Lowestoft. He never alluded to this
exploit without a smile. No day passed without some
point visited — some special work accomplished. And
thus it was wherever he turned his footsteps.

A note from Sir Roderick Murchison shows that,
although debarred by failing health from sharing in
public functions, the heart of the old chief was with
his geological brethren on their anniversary : —

SIT R. I. Murchison to J. Prestwich.

16 BELGRAVE SQUARE, ISth February 1871.

MY DEAR PRESTWICH, — Although shut out from personal par-
ticipation in the affairs of the Geological Society, I cannot allow
the approaching anniversary to pass by without assuring you
that I take as lively an interest as ever in the advancement of
our favourite science. I rejoice above all that the Society is now
under your guidance, and it has of course given me great satis-
faction, as Director-General of the Geological Survey, to observe
that you have given the Wollaston Medal this year to my dis-
tinguished associate, Professor Eamsay. — Yours ever sincerely,

EOD. I. MURCHISON.

If we except two sub - reports to the Hoyal Coal
Commission, the only publications in 1871 were his
Presidential Address and the memoir on " The Nor-
wich Crag and Westleton Beds."

The subject chosen for his address to the Geological
Society was " Deep Sea Life and its Relations to
Geology." In this interesting essay he reviewed,
among others, the researches of Edward Forbes,
Spratt, Wallich, Carpenter, Gwyn - Jeffreys, Wy ville
Thomson, &c., giving lists of temperatures at depths in
the Atlantic and Pacific. He touched upon the circu-
lation of cold under-currents in the great oceans, and
the influence of submarine temperatures on pelagic life.

JET. 59.] THE DEEP SEA. 227

He demonstrated how continental Europe, with much of
its western sea-bed, "was subject to successive changes
of level, giving rise to a series of Eocene, Miocene, and
Pliocene strata, with their diversified and varying
faunas." His treatment of the subject gauged the
knowledge up to date, and was very suggestive. The
study of the circulation of polar and ocean currents
had always had a special attraction for him.

Instead of a refreshing Easter excursion, there was
persistent home with city work at high pressure.
The result was indisposition, and peremptory medical
orders for change and rest.

J. Prestwicll to J. Evans. ST LEONAKDS-ON-SEA, 9th May 1871.

MY DEAR EVANS, — I thought of you all on Friday, and have
heard from Jeffreys of what ,a pleasant and large party you had.

I at last got permission to leave town on Saturday. We
arrived here yesterday in most beautiful weather, took an early
dinner with Bowerbank, and settled down here in the evening.
I like none of these seaside places, but since the 26th February
1870 I feel right anywhere. I hope also to polish off the
Brixham Cave and Coal Eeport No. 2. We may be here for a
fortnight. To-day winter seems to have come back again. It is
wet and cold. I am, however, I am happy to say, decidedly
better, and hope to be at my posts again at Somerset House and
the City at the end of the fortnight. I shall be glad to hear
that Kaup is elected to-morrow, and, believe me, ever truly
yours, Jos. PRESTWICH.

The quiet of Darent-Hulme was enlivened by fre-
quent visits from relations, and by the welcome sight
of busy geological friends, whose stay was usually
limited from Saturday until an early train on Monday.
The walk on Sunday afternoon was often out high
upon the down, whence far - reaching views were a

228 DAKENT-HULME. [l871.

delight to the eye. Can they ever be forgotten ? On
the opposite side of the Darent valley was the steep
chalk slope, presenting an unbroken face south-
ward until it abutted on the wide fertile Vale of
Holmesdale, when its trend was suddenly to the east.
There was a glimpse of the plateaux on the heights
with their capping of red clay with flints — a soil which
is transforming the district into one great fruit-garden.
Wellhill with its Tertiary flints made an attractive
walk for active geologists, who, by skirting hop-
gardens, gained the steep path which led up through
rich fruit-fields to the summit ; while those more rest-
fully disposed reclined on the grassy down and scanned
the far distance in the north-east, where perchance
they might detect the smoke of an ocean liner /m her
way down the Thames, and, when atmospheric con-
ditions were very favourable, had also a glimpse of the
faint hazy outline of the Essex shore beyond.

" 0 tempo passato, perche non ritorni 1 "

One of the most frequent guests was Professor John
Morris, the palaeontologist, so well known as the author
of the ' Catalogue of British Fossils,' a book necessary
for every practical geologist. He had worked with
Prestwich in-doors and out-of-doors, and was perfectly
happy day after day in the library, consulting or mak-
ing extracts from books. He seemed to prefer wet
weather, or any weather that made going out undesir-
able, so that he should not be disturbed, unless that
his host proposed some little excursion : then he was
all alacrity, ready to accompany, observe, and enjoy.
Few possessed such an amount of knowledge — know-
ledge that was many-sided — and withal he was so
modest and simple. Professor Morris knew the pro-

MT. 59.] JOHN MORRIS. 229

perties of plants, and was conversant with habits of
beasts and birds and creeping things : an expert
chemist, he was unconsciously a teacher — "a born
teacher," as Canon Bonney, in an interesting notice,
describes him — ever ready, when appealed to by the
uriinstructed, to explain the why and wherefore of
common things. When ordered out for health's sake,
he was to be found in the garden tracing earth-worms
and mole-hills, or with his host he walked backwards
and forwards discussing the marvellous mechanism and
adaptation of natural objects, perhaps speculating on
the formation of dew.

The following note was an acknowledgment to Sir
Roderick Murchison of his last public address. The
veteran several months previously had been struck by
paralysis, and had partially recovered, but this address
to the Royal Geographical Society was felt to be a
farewell to public life.1

J. Prestwich to Sir E. I. Murchison.

SHOREHAM, near SEVENOAKS, 9th June 71.

MY DEAR SIR RODERICK, — I am much obliged by the copy of
your Address, and still more pleased at the evidence it affords
of your continued mental activity, notwithstanding the severe
illness you have undergone.

I cannot tell you how much I, in common with all your geologi-
cal friends, rejoice at your recovery, and at the same time how
much we have missed you at our Council and [evening] meetings.

Believe me to be, my dear Sir Eoderick, very sincerely yours,

Jos. PRESTWICH.

Early in August Prestwich attended the meeting of
the British Association in Edinburgh, where perhaps
he was less attracted by papers in the various Sections

1 Murchison died in the eightieth year of his age, on October 22, 1871.

230 DARENT-HULME. [l872.

than by the geology in the immediate neighbourhood
of the beautiful northern city.

He made a longer stay at St Andrews with his wife's
family, when the coast north and south of the pictur-
esque old university town was explored. Here also he
made the acquaintance of Professor Heddle the miner-
alogist, whose recent death has been so much deplored.
His search was for traces of drift, raised beaches, and
ice-action, and Professor Heddle's local knowledge was
most generously placed at his disposal. He also paid
a visit to the famous locality of Dura Den, observing
the fine cliffs of soft, yellow, Old Red Sandstone, and
noting that " the fishes occurred in a single bed at the
base."

Prestwich returned to Darent - Hulme with, as
usual, many fresh observations and ascertained facts,
each briefly entered in a sentence or two, with its dis-
tinct section. He was ever eager to work up the un-
published notes of all his excursions, but they were
accumulating year by year, and, alas ! when would
there be time ? Each day he went backwards and
forwards to Mark Lane, and in addition to long hours
in the City, nearly four were spent in the journey out
and home. At the end of the day he was refreshed
by a walk in the garden, yet was little able to throw
himself into the elaboration of those geological theories
which were his delight to demonstrate. The wear and
tear of these daily journeyings, early and late, did
not tell injuriously on his health, — on the contrary,
those drives through the lovely woods to Chelsfield
Station were beneficial ; but he begrudged the time
abstracted from his geology. He found that there
was actually less leisure for writing than when living
in town amid its many interruptions, and he became

2ET. 60.] HOME LIFE. 231

restlessly anxious as he thought of the mass of un-
published material, and especially of the delay in bring-
ing out his Report on Brixham Cave. The writing of
this Report had been again and again interrupted by
illness, and had become a great anxiety. All work,
except two or three slight papers, had been set aside
for the Sub - Reports and Maps of the two Royal
Commissions, the subjects of both of which were
especially his own. The fact was that his health
being no longer vigorous, the city work alone taxed
his energies.

He was not a letter-writer, yet had a large corre-
spondence— notes in reply to frequent inquiries on
geological and allied subjects being dashed off with
incredible speed. Still, in spite of the resultant fatigue
after a full day, he was persistent in snatching every
hour, or rather every minute, for his geology. He
made a point of making himself acquainted with the
leading articles in the ' Times,' but otherwise his read-
ing was entirely geological literature. He felt what
his true vocation was and adhered to it, and with that
tenacity of purpose which was so strong a feature in
his character he refrained from opening other books.

" Why, you read nothing but geology — your very
soul is steeped in geology," was a remark made to
him when he would not look at a book which had
made a sensation. His reply was a smile and an
affirmative nod. But in repeated attacks of sciatica,
which his kind physician altogether attributed to over-
work, and when ordered to read nothing but novels,
the patient was entirely submissive, and so anxious
to get rid of his malady that he read novels only,
and that very earnestly, in a manner peculiar to him-
self. There was no skipping — he read every word.

232 GARDENING. [1872.

As soon as he was well the novels were discarded and
his geological books resumed.

He indulged, however, in one passion, and that was
transplanting : perhaps the open-air exercise it neces-
sitated prevented a complete breakdown. A garden-
book was kept, in which he had during summer entered
every shrub and tree to be moved into a better position
at the proper season. Consequently, in November the
whole garden seemed to be in motion. With the excep-
tion of a few which succumbed, the result was generally
good, as when a tree changed place it was into a trench
with improved soil, and so with holes for the shrubs.
Thus they made more vigorous and rapid growth. He
liked to give surprises, and used to introduce his wife
to some clump of foliage, which without her knowledge
had been rearranged with larger plants, and mischiev-
ously ask whether she had not noticed the great start
they had made during the year !

The Sundays were such happy days, and really a
rest — they never seemed long enough. He was rarely
absent from Morning Service, leaving guests who were
not disposed to go to church to take care of themselves.
When fluctuating health prevented his attendance at
church, he always liked to read aloud the Morning
Service (or greater part of it) verse about with his
wife, one of them repeating the responses.

Certain Sundays can never be forgotten : one in
particular, some two years later, stands apart in the
writer's memory. Mr David Forbes the metallurgist
(brother of Edward Forbes) had promised to bring
down his charming young Polish wife for the day, but
as they did not arrive at the appointed time, it was
supposed that the steady rain had prevented them.
Between two and three o'clock, however, a mud-bespat-

JET. 60.] ADDRESS TO GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 233

tered cab drove up to the door, bringing Mr and Mrs
Forbes, who had been carried past the junction at
Swanley on to Meopham, whence they had come over
the many miles of Chalk plateau and down the steep
escarpment to the Darent valley. There was no room,
alas ! for them for the night, as the house was full, so
they had to return to town. Not long after the gentle
Vanda Forbes was called away from her husband and
little children. He did not recover from the shock,
and the words of the late Dr P. Martin Duncan, the
writer of the Biographical Notice of David Forbes, to
the Geological Society, are of deep pathos : " He was
wounded in spirit by the loss of his wife, who was
singularly adapted to his tone of mind."

The address which Prestwich gave to the Geological
Society at the Anniversary Meeting in 1872, the second
year of his Presidency, was on subjects of which he was
master. It was in two portions : the first, " Our Springs
and Water Supply," and the second half on " Our Coals
and Coal Supply."

An Easter excursion was planned by him, as shown
in the following letter ; but, as it proved, he was unable
to join, and this particular expedition to the Boulogne
district was therefore postponed.

J. Prestwich to J. Evans.

LONDON, 19th March 1872.

MY DEAR EVANS, — If I go to Boulogne my plans are as follows.
We make that place our headquarters and visit —

1. Wissant and the coast on one side to Blanc Nez, and the

other to Gris Nez.

2. La Marquise, with the Oolites, Mountain Limestone, Coal-

Measures, and Devonian rocks of the neighbourhood.

3. The hills beyond Ferques, Guisnes (and its springs), and

the Chalk hills around.

234 GEOLOGICAL EXCURSIONS. [1872.

4. The coast on the other side of the Basin, and the Dunes

beyond.

5. Eue and Stables, and the banks of the Canche for Gravel

beds.

6. Samer (Lower Greensand) and some outliers of Tertiaries

on the Chalk hills beyond.

7. Some deep valleys among the Chalk between Boulogne and

Pol, in which the Palaeozoic rocks show on their floor.
We shall get a few Drift beds on various levels, and, I hope,
traces of raised beaches. . We may look also for flint imple-
ments in the valleys of the Canche or Authie. We will talk the
matter over to-morrow. . . .

Instead of the chosen Boulogne route, his friends
selected another district, when it is evident from the
annexed letter, in which the subject of this Memoir
drafted out a plan for their guidance, that his thoughts
were regretfully with them.

J. Prestwick to J. Evans. LONDON, 29th March 1872.

MY DEAR EVANS, — Yesterday it blew a gale and rained inces-
santly ; to-day we have the rain without the wind. This, how-
ever, is a sorry consolation to me, and very sad work, I fear, for
you and Galton.1 Gosselet of Lille has kindly offered to meet us
at Boulogne and accompany us on a proposed excursion, which I
still hope may come off later in the season. If the weather con-
tinues so bad, go to Paris and luxuriate in the museums and
theatres there under cover. Weather permitting, go to Beauvais,
where you have —

1. A valuable local museum.

2. A magnificent fragment of a cathedral.

3. Loess and valley Drift one mile south of the town.

4. A fine fossiliferous exhibition of the Calcaire grossier, and

of all the beds, in fact, between the Chalk and the Cal-
caire lacustre suptricur ; also the "Diluvium" of the
French at Chaumont, about five or six miles distant.

Sir Douglas Galton, K.C.B., born 1822 ; died 10th March 1899.

JET. 60.] J. F. CAMPBELL. 235

5. The Neocomian, Greensands, Wealden, Portland Beds, and

Kimmeridge in the Pays de Bray.

6. Le Chateau de Gisors. Thence across to Compiegne, where

you have — •

(1) A very rich locality for the shells, " Lits Coquilliers," in

a small valley just beyond Pierrefonds.

(2) The fine Chateau de Pierrefonds. Again, on the main

line, just above Anvers or Angers, there is on the right
bank of the Oise, near the top of the hill, a site noted
for its Quaternary mammalian remains.

With kind regards to all who may be with you, and wishing
you well through and soon out of this weather, I am sincerely
yours, J. PRESTWICH.

Eemember me to MM. Pinsard and Gamier if you see them.
My wife sympathises more with Mrs Evans than with you — I
don't.

In March a review appeared from his pen in ' Nature '
on the magnificent work of his old friend M. Belgrand,
on ' La Seine : le Bassin Parisien aux Ages ante-
historiques.'

A very pleasant friendship which he made while on
the Royal Coal Commission was with its secretary, Mr
J. F. Campbell, the accomplished author of ' Frost and
Fire.'

J. F. Campbell to J. Prestwich.

ISTiDDRY LODGE, KENSINGTON, 8th May 1872.

DEAR PRESTWICH, — I have not had the grace to thank you for
your Address, but I have been much obliged and instructed
thereby. When you happen to be in these regions come and
geologise in my garden. It is on the Clay under the Gravel, well
on the top of which some Company has made waterworks and a
tower. You will easily find your way by the tower, and if the
waterworks burst, you will return to the Thames faster than you
came up this hill. — I am, yours very truly, J. F. CAMPBELL.

236 RETIREMENT FROM BUSINESS. [l872.

Curiously enough, this was a locality, near the old
Kensington gravel-pits, to which Prestwich many years
before had often paid visits, and sometimes in company
with Professor Morris.

At last, to his infinite relief, and that of his friend
Pengelly, the Brixham Cave Report was sent in to the
Royal Society. It was read in abstract in May, and
was published in the Royal Society Proceedings for
1872, the full text appearing in the 'Philosophical
Transactions' for 1873. The exploration of the cave
had been completed in 1859, but largely owing to the
sad death of Dr Falconer, the full report was unfortu-
nately postponed. In the end the animal remains were
described by Mr George Busk, and the worked flints by
Sir John Evans.

A short paper on a raised beach at Portsdown Hill,
near Portsmouth, was published in the ' Geological
Journal ' ; and Prestwich also found time for a magazine
article (on popular lines) on the probable extension of
coal-measures in the south-east of England, which ap-
peared in * Popular Science Review/

The event which signalised this year, and which had
a marked influence on his subsequent career, was his re-
tirement, after forty years of City life, from business
and Mark Lane. This step was not taken without
long and anxious deliberation, but when his mind was
once made up there was prompt action. He never re-
gretted this step, and often remarked the mistake was
that he had not retired several years sooner. Owing
to this, a reduction in the home establishment became
necessary, but could such a consideration ever be
weighed in the balance with leisure for the work to
which he had dedicated his life !

His character and integrity were recognised in the

MS. 60.] GEOLOGICAL WORK. 237

City, and his wife was never more proud of him,
never more deeply touched, than when told that the
firm who had purchased his business property had
simply taken it over on his word. In later years his
eyes glistened when reverting to his early life, and to
the great kindness which he had received from City
friends.

The hard-earned leisure was won, yet with it no res-
pite from close intellectual work, which was to him as
a second nature. Deprived of it, he would have been
bereft of his greatest happiness ; and now he sat down
to grapple with manuscripts, with papers begun on
various questions, all geological, and with the vast
quantity of material amassed during a long course of
years. Perhaps the garden was then of greater service
as a distraction than at any other time. The trees and
shrubs, being in an early stage of growth, were in need
of fostering care ; and the interest and occupation of
this wiled him from his desk, and from hours spent in
tabulating his observations on Clays or Gravels, and in
deciphering the history which they reveal.

For the first time since moving to Darent - Hulme,
he was able to turn his attention to the collections,
which were found to have outgrown the space assigned
to them. A room originally intended for the library
was lined with cabinets, some of them reaching to the
ceiling, and with every drawer filled. Cases of rock
specimens and fossil bones had to be left unopened in
a cellar for lack of space. Prestwich first limited his
task of arrangement to the contents of cabinets in the
library itself, which contained the specimens of Drift.
A folio-book written to his dictation gives the very
numerous localities where he had examined Drift and
the component parts of each gravel, a work exten-

238 BOULOGNE. [1872-73.

sively used during the preparation of later papers 011
the Westleton Beds and more recent deposits.

His connection with City life had been severed on the
1st of August, and on the 12th September he started
for Boulogne with his two friends, Mr Godwin-Austen
and Mr H. B. Mackeson of Hythe, both of whom have,
alas ! since passed over to the majority. Never losing
sight of special points he had in view, the route was a
part of the programme planned for the Easter excur-
sion, which, owing to the state of his health at the
time, he had been unable to join. The notes and sec-
tions of this Boulogne expedition are voluminous. The
three friends proceeded to Cape Gris Nez by Vimereux,
Ambleteuse, and Andrecelles, and a careful analysis is
given of the subangular gravel near Wissant.

" Between Wissant and Cape Blanc Nez we found
Dunes, but under them in places cropped out the Lower
Greensand (Sandgate and Folkestone Beds), capped
by angular white Drift, same as that which overlies
the raised beach at Sangatte ; but no beach occurred
here."

This angular Drift at Wissant did not extend far
inland, but near Equihen he found the strata covered
by a greater thickness of flint Drift. In short, he was
noting every trace of Drift and Loess, and there are
forty-five pages of notes and sections on this one ex-
pedition. M. Rigaux of Boulogne informed him " that
the fragments of elephant's tusk, and tooth of rhino-
ceros, were found in the rail way -cutting through the
Kimmeridge Clay between Boulogne and Wimille, at a
height of about 60 m., and in a pocket of Drift."

Wimille was visited with M. Rigaux just a year later,
when another of the many expeditions to the Boulon-
nais was made.

JST. 60-61.] AIX-LES-BAINS. 239

The last letter which we find addressed to Sir Charles
Lye]l is one expressing sympathy on the death of the
beloved Lady Lyell.

J. Prestwich to Sir Charles Lyell. nth May 1873.

MY DEAR SIR CHARLES, — I am very much obliged to you for
the copy of the last edition of the ' Antiquity of Man/ which I
have not yet had the opportunity of reading, but which I feel
sure I shall find well posted up to the day.

My wife will have already conveyed to you through Mrs Lyell
our very sincere sympathy in your sad and unexpected bereave-
ment. We both felt and shared greatly in your irreparable loss,
a feeling I am sure in which all who knew her must participate,
for I believe no one could ever have inspired a more general feel-
ing amongst all, of true regard and affection. With our united
kind regards and best wishes for your own health, believe me to
be sincerely yours, J. PRESTWICH.

Towards the end of May 1873, Mr and Mrs Prest-
wich hurried to Aix-les-Bains, on account of the illness
of the youngest sister of the latter, whom happily they
found convalescent. The journey was one of interest
(which was the case with every journey) : it was, how-
ever, with keen pleasure that our geologist recognised
the long plateau of Drift Gravel after passing Dijon,
and about 40 to 60 feet " or may be less " above the
level of the river, planted with vines and extending
for several miles.

Aix was a centre whence the surrounding neighbour-
hood was explored, beginning with the hill above it
leading to Mouxy. As a matter of course, our geologist
was interested in the various weapons, tools, &c. , dredged
up from the Lac du Bourget, but much more so in the
natural phenomena and features of the district. M.
Perrin, libraire at Chambery, accompanied him to its

240 AIX-LES-BAINS. [1873.

Museum, where he made a list of the fossils of the
" Alluvions Anciennes " of Sonnax. M. Fillet guided
him to the section at La Boisse, near Chambery, and
also kindly accompanied him by train to Viviers,
whence they visited the Lignite Beds of Sonnax.

One of the most delightful drives out of Aix was
made to a small underground lake some ten kilometres
distant. Situated on the side rather near the foot of a
mountain, the entrance to it, which resembled that of a
low cave, was reached through fields sloping downwards
from it. After a little delay two or three peasants
were found to act as guides, and they carried lights
showing the long low passage which widened as the
explorers penetrated farther underground, and where
they were able to stand upright. It felt unworld-like
and uncanny when the spacious cavity was reached,
and its size was shrouded in the darkness of night.
The water was perfectly still, and the lights shone on
it and its strand of fine white sand, which showed no
sign of ripple-mark. How weird it all looked !

Prestwich took in all the conditions at a glance, and
was speedily satisfied. After a brief halt, he and his
companion turned to leave, and keeping close to the
light-bearers, picked their steps, or rather crept slowly
through the long slippery channel out to the open air.
An agreeable incident in the day was luncheon after-
wards at the homely auberge. Several workmen
trooped in to the kitchen, the only room for dinner.
Always courteous, the Englishman, speaking their lang-
uage like one of themselves, was treated by them with
the most marked respect — with a consideration equal
to his own.

It was in 1873 that a stay was made at Weymouth,
which was one of great enjoyment. The season was at

Ml. 61.] WEYMOUTH. 241

its best, Mr and Mrs Prestwich being there during
August and part of September, occupying rooms near
those of other members of the family, with whom joint
excursions were made. The isle of Portland and the
Chesil Beach were the chief attractions. It cannot be
averred that visits were paid to them every day, as
there were long expeditions to Dorchester, Maiden
Castle, and Blackdown, near Portisham (the geology
of this hill of gravel being a special object), and sep-
arate days to Osmington, Preston, Lulworth, Abbots-
bury, &c., also to Fleet and Up way. But on every
day possible, Prestwich was off by steamboat or by
road with hammer and bag, to Portland and the Chesil
Beach. In the expedition to Maiden Castle and Black-
down his old friend Mr Edward Cunnington accom-
panied the party, Prestwich breathlessly busy in col-
lecting, from various levels, specimens from the gravel
of rolled and subangular flints, and of quartz, slate, and
other pebbles. He was much interested in finding on
the road to Dorchester a long hill on the right capped
with precisely the same gravel as at Blackdown, but
about 300 to 400 feet lower in level. Mr E. Cunning-
ton also joined one of the excursions to Abbotsbury,
when, besides the geology, an inspection was made of
the swannery and the decoy.

Prestwich paid one visit to Portland with Mr J. C.
Mansel-Pleydell,1 the Rev. Osmond Fisher,2 and Captain
Galton — the last - named being his guest. He con-
ducted these three friends to the Admiralty Quarries
—Captain Clifton, the Governor of the Convict Prison,

1 President of the Dorset Natural History Society. Author of works
on the Natural History of Dorset.

2 Author of 'Physics of the Earth's Crust,' and many geological and
mathematical papers.

Q

242 PORTLAND. [1873.

being especially kind, and affording every facility for
seeing the stone - beds and specimens obtained from
them.

The sojourn at Weymouth would have been delight-
ful to every one but for the anxiety of our geologist's
visits to Portland Bill. In 1863 he had noted a
fragment of the old raised beach there overhanging
a sheer precipice, with the wild conflict of waters
below. Although never foolhardy, the risk in reach-
ing this vestige of beach was so great that, after the
first visit, he made a promise never to climb to this
perilous point without the help of either the light-
house-keeper or a quarryman. The existence of this
fragment of beach was important, and no piece of
geological evidence was ever more thoroughly sifted.

J. Prestwich to J. C. Mansel-Pleydell.

WEYMOUTH, 25th August 1873.

MY DEAR MR MANSEL-PLEYDELL, — Thanks for the names of
species. I am glad you enjoyed your excursion here, and shall
be glad to join you in another one. I cannot, however, yet fix
a day for Swanage, nor am sure yet that I shall have time to
spare, as I want to work out Portland fully. I was at the
Bill again on Saturday. There are clear indications of the
Middle and Upper Purbecks having existed there; while I
think it also clear that the movement of elevation which has
raised Portland into its present conspicuous position is of late
Quaternary date.1 You will find me here until the 3rd Sep-
tember, &c., &c.

At Lulworth he wished to examine the coast in the
direction of the White Nore, and for that purpose
engaged a tradesman's cart, the only obtainable vehicle ;

1 This view of the age of the Weymouth anticline is not generally
accepted. See Hudleston, * Proc. Geol. Assoc.,' vol. xi. p. liii. ; and
A. Strahan, ' Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc.,3 vol. li. p. 549, and ' Geology of the
Isle of Purbeck and Weymouth,3 1898, pp. 200, 229.

JET. 61.] CHESIL BEACH. 243

but after a mile and a half found the roadway impass-
able. Our geologist, however, had full occupation at
Lulworth. The day was one of fervent heat, and the
tiny Acarus — that pest of a Chalk district — was seen
to cluster in large red blotches on the face of an
unfortunate donkey.

Next to the Bill of Portland, the Chesil Bank ab-
sorbed his time and attention. Day after day he stood
on its ridge watching the sweep of the eddying cur-
rents : sometimes when a grand sea had risen and the
waves swept high up, sending their spray right over
the Bank ; sometimes in a calm, when on one occasion
there was an enormous haul inshore of mackerel. In
storm or calm, in rain or sunshine, as he stood on the
ridge listening to the scour and friction of the pebbles,
or speculating silently on the direction of the currents,
his tall figure was a familiar object to the fishermen of
the Chesil Beach.

In a letter of this date to Mr Evans, he remarks
that he had never enjoyed any stay at the seaside
so much as this visit to Weymouth.

Towards the end of September he was again at
work in the Boulonnais — a district which had already
received many visits, and was destined to receive yet
more. On this occasion he was accompanied by his
old friend Mr Colchester, determinedly carrying out
the programme which he had planned for an Easter
excursion a year and a half before. Again he was
searching the district for traces of Drift and for Loess,
gleaning materials for those wide generalisations which
were to be embodied in subsequent papers. Much of
the ground traversed in the year preceding was further
worked over. M. Rigaux of Boulogne accompanied the
friends to several localities.

244 REVIEWS. [1873.

Usually an early morning's start was made after a
slight breakfast, with the understanding that he would
return to dinner at seven, or at latest eight, o'clock ;
yet often nine had struck before he appeared — tired,
yet very happy after a good day's work. On being
questioned, a confession was made that lunch had
consisted of the most meagre fare — perhaps a crust
of bread with wine at some little roadside inn. The
equanimity of the landlady would have been disturbed
by the unwonted late and early hours, but for the
presence of a faithful old servant who had been nearly
thirty years in the service of our geologist, and who
made all the domestic machinery work smoothly.

October was well advanced before his return home,
where, although now his own master, work at high
pressure was resumed. Early in the year he had
contributed articles to the ' Manchester Guardian,'
two of which were on " Coal and our Coal Supply " ;
and although ostensibly reviews of Professor E. Hull's
work ' On the Coalfields of Great Britain,' and of the
Coal Commission Reports (including the General Re-
port and Sub -Reports), they were practically essays
on a subject on which he was well qualified to give
an opinion. In August a notice of Professor E. Hull's
' Building Stones ' also appeared in the ' Manchester
Guardian,' while in December he was the author of
an article on Sir Wyville Thomson's ' Depths of the
Sea.'

His energies were now centred on the elaboration
of a paper on Deep Sea Temperatures, upon which,
with infinite care and trouble, he had been at work
for some time. His reading hitherto, as we have
observed, except during attacks of illness, had been
purely geological : now it included voyages to Polar

JET. 61.] DEEP-SEA TEMPEB ATTIRES. 245

regions, Arctic and Antarctic. This paper was, in fact,
a treatise on oceanic circulation in relation to certain
geological questions. He had theories to bring for-
ward which he had long thought out, and in support
of these he had collected and reduced all the obser-
vations made, from 1749 to 1868, at great depths. The
conditions which these observations proved were dis-
cussed, and " the sections of bathymetrical isotherms
which extend from Pole to Pole gave results which,
in the Pacific especially, were quite new." Besides
those of inland seas, 548 observations were recorded
in the Northern hemisphere and 522 in the Southern.
A valuable adjunct was the map of these deep - sea
temperature soundings, with the observations marked
in figures. It is not too much to say that the
preparation of this memoir, more especially the com-
pilation of the tables of submarine temperatures, cost
him more real toil than any other of his numerous
geological writings.

Letters from the numerous authorities whom he con-
sulted on the subject of temperatures at depths are of
great interest. For the Mediterranean temperatures he
was indebted to his old friend Admiral Spratt,1 who
supplied him with the soundings made when he was
at the head of the survey in the Mediterranean. Sir
Edward Belcher sent him voluminous notes, as did
likewise Captain Pullen, R.N. Admiral Bedford stated
that the temperatures recorded by him from soundings
were all his own and his officers' personal observations.
In one of Sir Edward Sabine's letters an interesting
account is given of his work in taking soundings while

1 Author of 'Travels and Kesearches in Crete,' and joint author with
Edward Forbes of a paper 'On the Geology of a part of Euboaa and
Breotia ' ; also of a work, ' Travels in Lycia,' &c.

246 CHANNEL TUNNEL. [1873-74.

on the North Sea and Arctic voyages of the Griper ;
while Dr Hooker furnished the details of evidence
obtained on the voyages of the Erebus and Terror in
Antarctic regions.

The materials and references for any memoir on
which he happened to be engaged were carried to
London in winter, a great part of which was spent
with his wife at 21 Park Crescent, the hospitable home
of Mr Charles Falconer, the uncle of Mrs Prestwich.
This house was always open to them, and a lengthened
winter visit was regarded as a matter of course.

The date on which a paper was read at the Institution
of Civil Engineers, " On the Geological Conditions
affecting the Construction of a Tunnel between Eng-
land and France," was December 1873. It appeared in
the Proceedings of the Institution for 1874. Prest-
wich's knowledge of the strata on both English and
French coasts made the writing an easy task. The
map, sections, and soundings are given with the utmost
clearness and completeness, and the reading of his
paper gave rise to an animated discussion, which was
resumed at the next meeting, and was continued
throughout the evening, several leading engineers as
well as geologists taking part.

After reviewing other strata through which a tunnel
might be possible, Prestwich, in summing up, remarked
that " the great mass of the Palaeozoic rocks, so pro-
tected by impermeable overlying strata, is of such great
dimensions, and so compact, and holds its range so
independently of the more irregular range of the
Secondary strata, that it offers the conditions most
favourable for the secure construction of a submarine
tunnel ; and that such strata can be worked in safety,
and for considerable distances, under great bodies of

JET. 61-62.] COLONEL E. B. WOOD. 247

water, has been proved at Whitehaven and Mons. But,
on the other hand, the depth of these old rocks below
the surface is very great, and they are much more dense
and harder than the overlying formations."

The following letter, in acknowledgment of a copy
of the Brixham Cave Report, from Colonel Wood of
Stouthall, himself the explorer of so many caves, reveals
his affection for the lamented Hugh Falconer : —

Colonel JE. R. Wood to J. Prestwich.

STOUTHALL, SWANSEA, 23rd March 1874.

MY DEAR MR PRESTWICH, — I hasten to thank you for having
kindly sent ine your Eeport on the Brixham Cave. I shall
peruse it with very great pleasure. The descriptive arrangement
is admirable, and detail clear and intelligible.

My interest in this branch of geology is not keen now ; indeed
I almost felt a distaste for the subject after the death of my dear
friend Hugh Falconer : he was so associated with the pleasures
which I experienced in the pursuit of the subject, and so en-
couraged and assisted me by his kind instructions, that when
he was taken from us I found a void which I have never
been able to overcome. Our acquaintance was but a short one,
but he had greatly endeared himself to me, and I loved him
sincerely.

I send you a flint implement for your collection, but I am
sorry to say that it tells no tale. It was picked up by a work-
man on the coast near Long Hole, when engaged in cutting a
pathway for bringing the debris of a wreck to the top of the
cliff. It seems to me a capital typical specimen of its kind,
very perfect in its proportions for so small a flint.

Mrs Wood desires me to send her best love to Mrs Prestwich,
to whom also I offer my best regards. With our united kind
regards to you, believe me, always yours sincerely,

E. E. WOOD.

Instead of accompanying a party abroad in the
following Easter, Prestwich turned his steps north-

248 SETTLE CAVE. [l874.

ward, intent on working out some special points, and
after two days of solitary exploration of the hills
between Skiptoii and Lotherdale, as usual in quest
of " Drift," on the 2nd April he joined Professor Boyd
Dawkins and Mr R. H. Tiddeman of the Geological
Survey, at the New Inn, Clapham, in the West Riding
of Yorkshire, which was made their headquarters. He
had visited the Victoria Cave at Settle, at least once
before, but the first day's work was a re-examination
of it and of two small caves near. The Cave at Ingle-
borough was also explored. On this interesting ex-
cursion Prestwich was busily engaged with his two
companions in noting every occurrence of boulders, of
Boulder Clay, or traces of Drift or of ice- act ion, in the
districts of Selside, Long Preston, Whalley, and Hoi-
combe, &c.

Early in May his great paper on " Deep Sea
Temperatures" was handed in to the Royal Society.
It was read on the 18th June, a week later than the
date on which another of his papers was read at the
Geological Society, entitled " Notes on the Phenomena
of the Quaternary Period in the Isle of Portland
and around Weymouth." Into this latter were woven
many of the observations made during his sojourn at
Weymouth (see p. 242).

During this year also, a translation into French of
his memoirs on the Crag — ' La Structure des Couches
du Crag ' - - was published by M. Michel Mourlon,
Docteur-es-Sciences at Brussels.

But 1874 was a year memorable in the life of Joseph
Prestwich, — the one in which he agreed to become
the successor of the deeply regretted Professor John
Phillips, and to fill the Chair of Geology at Oxford.

249

CHAPTER IX.

1874-1878.

OXFORD — FIELD GEOLOGY IN ENGLAND, FRANCE,
WALES, AND SCOTLAND.

MR PRESTWICH was not a candidate for the vacant
Professorship at Oxford, and the intimation that the
Chair of Geology was about to be offered to him came
as a great surprise. It was so unexpected that he had
actually given testimonials to two of the candidates.
An official position in the old University was very
tempting, yet there was one element of anxiety, and
that was his uncertain health. Dr Owen Rees, his
medical adviser and the friend of his boyhood, on being
consulted, gave an encouraging opinion. Accordingly
a prompt acceptance was sent to the letter, dated 23rd
June 1874, from the late Dr Liddell,1 Dean of Christ
Church, who at the time was Vice- Chancellor of the
University, and in right of his office made the offer of
the appointment. The terms in which the Dean wrote
were thought only too complimentary by our geologist.
The writer cannot withhold a brief extract : —

" I am fully sensible that the University will derive

1 The Very Reverend Henry George Liddell, born February 6, 1811 ;
died January 18, 1898.

250 PROFESSORSHIP AT OXFORD. [l874.

more honour from having a person so eminent as your-
self among her Professors than she can bestow on you
by receiving you into their numbers."

These words from the Dean foreshadowed the wel-
come with which he and Mrs Liddell received the new
Professor and his wife. Their constant kindness led to
a warm mutual friendship, which was greatly prized,
and which throughout a thirteen years' residence never
faltered nor varied.

Professor Prestwich was the recipient of a number of
congratulatory letters, all expressive of the pleasure
which this appointment gave. A telegram was put
into his hands on the evening of the 1st July, dated
from the " Scientific Club," with hearty congratula-
tions. It bore the signatures of "Ansted, Rupert
Jones, Dallas, Wallace, Woodward, Seeley, Lobley,
Davies, Morris, Green, Hudleston, and Marshall Hall."
This evidence of affectionate interest from the friends
he valued gave him the keenest pleasure.

A note from Professor Owen is dated 8th July
1874:-

MY DEAR PROFESSOR, — Let nie first congratulate Oxford on
your acceptance of its Professorship of Geology. When I first
heard of the probability, I thought it too good news to be true.
Next accept my best thanks for your prompt transmission of the
vertebra of Ceteosaurus Oxoniensis, Phillips. It has arrived in per-
fect safety, and I trust you will receive it in as good condition
when the lithograph is finished. — Believe me, most truly yours,

KICHARD OWEN.

The new Professor lost no time in securing a house
at Oxford, where he and Mrs Prestwich were received
with the most hospitable kindness by Dr 1 and by Mrs

1 Now Sir Henry D. Acland, Bart.

Photo by Hills & Saioit/t'rs, Oxford.

SIR HENRY D. ACLAND, BART.

IET. 62.] GEOLOGISTS' ASSOCIATION. 251

Acland of saintly memory. The house taken was that
at the corner of Holy well and Broad Street, its recom-
mendation being that it was within two doors of Dr
and Mrs Acland. When the wife of our Professor ex-
pressed regret at their not having succeeded to the
pretty Museum villa which had been occupied by Pro-
fessor Phillips, instead of confessing to disappointment,
he declared (and he was so true) that he much pre-
ferred not having the Museum residence — that it would
be selfishness to hold two such good houses as it and
Darent-Hulme.

Just before this (June 26th), he had had the pleas-
ure of receiving the members of the Geologists'
Association at Darent-Hulme, when their excursion
happened to include Well Hill and the ground in the
near neighbourhood.1 Breaking up the party into
two sections, the one half made way for the other, so
that all were rested and refreshed. The sun shone out
brilliantly, the picturesque highlands of Kent looked
their best, and the day — at least for the entertainers —
was a very happy one.

Preparations for Oxford had to be made so as to be
in residence there during the October term. Prest-
wich was about to begin a new life and altogether
new work, yet although unaccustomed to lecture to
students, he was conscious that the Professorial duties
would be altogether congenial, and he began without
delay to shape out the course of instruction for his
class. This girding himself for the duties of the
Oxford chair did not, however, interfere with further
geological observations which he had in view.

Ilfracombe in North Devon was the centre, in
August, whence explorations were made along that

1 See Proc. Geol. Assoc., vol. iv. p. 155.

252 NORTH DEVON. [1874.

wild rock-bound coast. The first was to Croyde Point,
where the consolidated sands were noted, and also the
rarity of shells. At Westward Ho he came upon the
raised beach " immediately covered by the Head," and
traced the raised beach at places near to Morte Point.
At Morte Bay he descended to the shore with his
sister-in-law, when they found great difficulty in
clambering back from the rising tide. Little wonder
that wreckage lay scattered near to those awful rocks
with their knife-life edges. The chief interest, how-
ever, was at Baggy Point, where he was busied in
securing specimens of sand, &c., from fragments of the
raised beach and " Head." A search was made on
the hills near Berrynarbor for the Drift mentioned in
the " Guide," but he could find no trace of it. Bide-
ford, Barnstaple, and Clovelly were visited — in short,
every part of the north-west coast of Devon at all
accessible was carefully examined.

From Lynton and Lynmouth a long drive skirting
Exmoor took the Professor and his wife down to the
comfortable little inn on the shore of Porlock Bay,
the former searching at low tide for vestiges of the
submerged forest. On the way to church next day by
the shore-path outside Lord Lovelace's grounds, the
two tourists were struck by the extraordinary luxuri-
ance of the shrubs, in especial by the marvellous
colouring of the arbutus, all testifying to the mild-
ness of the climate.

Minehead was the next halting-place, whence the
coast was examined backward toward Porlock : inland
excursions were also made, including a day at Dunster
and its neighbourhood. The greatest attraction, how-
ever, was the shore at Watchet, where the gypsum
beds in the New Red Marl and the Rhsetic Beds and

JET. 62.] RECEPTION AT OXFORD. 253

Lower Lias are so clearly exhibited. His intense en-
joyment of this out-of-door work was infectious, even
for those to whom the record of the rocks was as a
sealed book.

When the date drew near for the move to Oxford,
Prestwich had to face the prospect of leaving his home
and that garden so entirely his own. He arranged with
his wife that they should leave it only after nightfall,
and this continued to be their practice in subsequent
years when quitting Darent-Hulme at the end of the
long vacation. It was less of a pang to say good-bye
to it in the dark.

Their reception at Oxford was the kindest, and not
from the science side only, but from all sides. They
soon came under the spell of the ancient home of
learning, and perceived that there was a subtle essence
in its mental atmosphere which made it somewhat
different from any other. They felt the fascination
of the place, and were sensible of their privilege.
Shortly after his arrival, the new Professor of Geology
had the honour of being elected a member of Christ
Church College. He had also the distinction of being
chosen one of "The Club" — a private dining club which
consisted of twelve members (several of whom were
Heads of colleges), who in term met once a fortnight
at dinner in rotation at each other's houses : only a
Royal command was allowed to interfere with this
engagement. A larger dining club was the " Ash-
molean," whose members were chiefly men of science,
and who also did our geologist the honour of adding
him to their number.

He likewise had a cordial invitation from Mr Buskin
to co-operate with him in a series of social gatherings
for the discussion of University interests, but his time

254 JOHN BUSKIN. [1874-75.

was so fully occupied that he was quite unable to
join.

J. Euskin to J. Prestwich.

CORPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE, OXFORD, 7th Novr. '74.

DEAR PROFESSOR PRESTWICH, — I very earnestly petition you,
if it be at all in your disposition of days possible, to honour me
by dining with me at Corpus next Thursday. It is the begin-
ning of a series of quiet meetings which I hope may take place
weekly in my rooms : any Masters of the University coming
who care to talk with each other, over the coffee, of matters
at present doubtful in our University work and prospects.

It seems to me that, not prolonged to fatigue and conducted
on the comfortable after-dinner principles, such discussion may
every now and then elicit things (otherwise not determinable)
with security up to a certain point.

Dinner will always be at seven punctually. Coffee at half-
past eight, when any chance visitor who wishes to join in the
talk will come in. Talk to finish in formality at ten. Subject
for a beginning on Thursday next : What is a University ? The
subjects will always be questions, and some kind of answer will
be set down in memory of the evening, as agreed to by such and
such guests. The records, of course, always private. Please
join us. I want you so much, and am always faithfully yours,

J. EUSKIN.

The University Museum was a daily resort, or rather
it should be said the working day was spent there.
With the old energy he sought to make himself
acquainted with the geological collections, and to
complete their arrangement. His Inaugural Lecture,
" On the Past and Future of Geology," was very well
received, the audience increased by friends from a dis-
tance. After reviewing the strides that had been
made in geological science, and indicating how much
still remained to be accomplished, he summed up with
a profession of the faith which had been his from

2ET. 62-63.] EGBERT MALLET. 255

boyhood — "the belief of great purpose and all -wise
design."

On this subject the following letter is interesting : —

ft. Mallet to J. Prestwich.

ENMOKE, THE GROVE, CLAPHAM ROAD, S.W., 29<A March 1875.

MY DEAR SIR, — Let me thank you for a copy of your Inaug-
ural Address, which has been read to me, and from which I
have derived great pleasure and instruction. You have touched
on none but important and broad questions, and dealt with them
ably and well.

The time has fully come for us to clear our ideas as to those
shifty old shibboleths of the past generation, Uniformitarianism
and Paroxysmalism, and it delights me much to find you pre-
senting a courageous front towards their correction.

I wish much you could devote a share of your powers to the
clear unprejudiced statement and discussion of all the evidence
for and against the notion1 of a glacial epoch and the limits of
ice-action at any period. People talk about " the glacial period "
much as an older world did about " the golden age " or the mil-
lennium, and without a thought as to whether there be or be not
evidence of the existence of any one of the three.

To me the admission presents immense physical and mech-
anical difficulties, against which Palseontologieal evidences seem
weak and dubious. And the alleged evidences from grooved
and scratched rocks, I believe, can be accounted for by other
than glacial action.

Do you not rather overrate the toughness of the inner surface
of the globe's crust ?

A section to true scale across the Pacific Ocean would not be
a trough, but an urribo covered by a varying but always relatively
thin stratum of water — a saucer, not a basin, as I have called it
elsewhere (Fourth Eeport, Earthquakes).

The superior inequalities, however great, will rapidly tend to
lessen as we pass farther inwards, and thus the nucleus tends to
a perfect spheroid, with increase of depth.

May I venture to add another remark ? — you seem to con-
tinue to attach to Hopkins's precession notions and to Sir W.

256 GEOLOGICAL PAPERS. [l875.

Thomson's rigidity theory a degree of authority and truth to
nature to which, as it seems to me, neither are entitled, and
both which, brought forward without expression of doubt, if not
of discredit, are likely to exercise a retarding effect on geological
true progress. Both seem to me striking examples of what Huxley
has so happily styled " putting peas -cods into the mathematical
mill and expecting to obtain good wholesome flour." — With much
esteem, sincerely yours, E. MALLET.

On the 2nd of February 1875 Prestwich read a
paper at the Institution of Civil Engineers, which
created almost as lively an interest as his Channel
Tunnel paper, the discussions on it occupying portions
of three evenings, and in which engineers, geologists,
and naval men took part, among the latter his old
friend Admiral Spratt, who had been the associate of
Edward Forbes in researches in the Mediterranean.
It was entitled, " On the Origin of the Chesil Bank,
and on the Relation of the existing Beaches to past
Geological Changes independent of the present Coast
Action."

It was only on a special occasion such as this that
our Professor absented himself from Oxford during
term. By the end of it the strain of work, added
to many hospitable social engagements, told upon his
health, and he was ordered by Dr Acland to the south
coast to recruit. After geologising round Eastbourne,
at Pevensey and St Leonards, following the same skilled
advice, a move was made to Hay ling Island. At that
early season there were no visitors, so that Professor
and Mrs Prestwich had the hotel at South Hayling
all to themselves, and the restful week spent there
was ever a most happy reminiscence. The sea air
worked like a charm, and as on arrival a glimpse had
been had of numerous scattered boulders, there was

J3T.

}.] HAYLING ISLAND. 25*7

constant occupation. On the strip of common front-
ing the hotel there were three of about a quarter to
half a ton in weight, one being of fine white granite,
and the other two of sandstone ; while within the dis-
tance of a mile thirty boulders were counted — of
granite, sandstone, diorite, &c. The circuit of the
island was made in a pony carriage, which was gen-
erally laden with chips hammered off from the trans-
ported blocks, and carried away for examination.
Fragments of Portland fossil wood were reported to
him, and as a matter of course the thin spread of
gravel on the south shore was traced and inspected :
a saltern then in use was an easy walk from the
hotel. The whole place felt so remote and out of
the world, yet there was the constant sight of sail
off Spithead. The apple - trees, so plentiful in the
island, had burst out in blossom in the continued
sunshine, and in the memory of the survivor Hay-
ling Island will ever be associated with a daily search
for boulders amid clouds of apple-blossom.

On the first stage of the way back to Oxford the
drive from Havant to Fareham over Portsdown Hill,
keeping close to the fortifications, was magnificent.
Putting up at the "Red Lion" at Fareham, Hill
Head and Stubbington Cliff were explored, where at
both places the Professor lost no time in collecting
old rock pebbles and subangular fragments of quartz,
granite, &c. Another expedition was made to the
fort on the top of Wallington Hill to inspect the
capping of fine subangular gravel, three to four feet
thick.

The Saturday excursions for his students in the
summer term out from Oxford were always popular,
and by no means restricted to his class. There was

B

258 FIELD CLASSES. [l875.

often a sprinkling of graduates, and always a certain
number of ladies. No pains were spared to make his
lectures and the instruction in the field perfectly clear,
and it was a duty with him to explore any new ground
before leading the class to inspect it. Oxford indeed
was a splendid centre.

On the 20th of May, in a letter to Mr Evans, he
remarked : "I am still busy here lecturing and ex-
amining. We were out, thirty-two of us, last Satur-
day at Yarnton, and disinterred a mammoth's tusk.
To-day we go to Fawler and Stonesfield."

One of the most popular expeditions and one of the
most instructive was to the top of Shotover Hill with
its capping of ironsands. The several strata forming
the hill were clearly seen one above another in ascend-
ing to the summit, where those whose walking powers
enabled them to proceed as far as Wheatley were able
to distinguish the outcrop of several of the strata on
the farther side of the hill. Enslow Bridge, so rich in
fossils of the Great Oolite, was another favourite excur-
sion, as was also Kirtlington and its fossils in the
Forest Marble. The neighbourhood of Cumnor was
likewise a frequent resort, and many busy hours were
spent in its pits hunting for corals and other specimens
in the Coral Rag, and always with success. In short,
no ground within reasonable reach of Oxford that could
serve as an object-lesson remained un visited.

The new Professor was determined to make himself
of use to the University, and without delay took up
the question of a better water-supply for Oxford : some
of the best-remembered days were those spent in ex-
ploring the distant hills in search of springs of sufficient
volume to be utilised for the purpose. On this partic-
ular quest he was rarely accompanied by his students :

JET. 63.] LIFE AT OXFORD. 259

for these long distances he went out with only one
companion.

He threw himself with zest into the Oxford life, en-
joying it to the utmost. He was not a speaker in
Convocation, yet never failed to be present among the
group of Natural Science men, to record his vote when
any science measure was under discussion. Delightful
intimacies grew out of almost daily intercourse. Fore-
most among his Oxford friends were Dr and Mrs
Acland ; many evenings were spent under their roof,
when (as was so often the case) they had a houseful of
interesting guests. He had a great regard for his
brother Professors at the Museum, two of whom indeed
were his old personal friends, Dr Odling, the Waynflete
Professor of Chemistry, and Professor Clifton, who had
the chair of Experimental Philosophy.

Outside the Museum staff there was the Hev. Charles
Pritchard,1 whose friendship was of many years' stand-
ing, and who gave him a hearty welcome. In short,
the position of our geologist at the old University was
peculiarly happy.

Two of the friends with whom he was much in con-
tact in the early years of his professorship were Dr
Rolleston,2 the brilliant speaker, and Professor Henry J.
S. Smith,3 the mathematician, who succeeded Professor
Phillips as curator of the University Museum. If he
did not possess Dr Rolleston's rare gift of oratory, he
had nevertheless that almost as rare power of persuasive
speech. With inimitable tact Professor Henry Smith

1 Savilian Professor of Astronomy, born 29th February 1808 ; died 28th
May 1893.

2 George Eolleston, Linacre Professor of Physiology, born 30th July
1829 ; died 16th June 1881.

3 Henry John Stephen Smith, Savilian Professor of Geometry, born 2nd
November 1826 ; died 9th February 1883.

260 LIFE AT OXFORD. [l875.

struck in when discussions waxed warm, pouring " oil
on the troubled waters." These two remarkable men
had vied with each other in holding out the hand of
fellowship to Prestwich. Alas ! the powerful pleadings
with which Dr Rolleston was wont to electrify Con-
vocation on behalf of some liberal measure, and the
"golden speech," as it has been fitly termed, of the
genial Professor Henry Smith, have long been silent.
Jowett, in his •' Recollections of Professor Smith,' ob-
serves, " He may be regarded as one of the most re-
markable persons of his time."

Outside the Professoriate, Joseph Prestwich had
gained so many friends that the difficulty is to enum-
erate them. One of these was the Rev. Dr Cradock,
the Principal of Brasenose, who, during several years,
presided at the geological class lectures : the kindness
shown by him and Mrs Cradock was constant until the
end. At their pleasant luncheon-parties the new Pro-
fessor and his wife were frequent guests. When after
adjournment to the drawing-room it was the practice
of the sprightly little hostess to insist on any man of
note present writing an epigram, or sonnet, or some-
thing original, in her book of autographs, our geologist
finally succeeded in satisfying her with a quotation.
Mrs Cradock invariably wore black, and as her slight
figure was draped in black lace which was thrown over
her cap and fell enveloping her shoulders, the appear-
ance of the kind little hostess was unconventional and
highly picturesque. She had a rose-garden at the end
of Holywell which gave much pleasure to her friends ;
but each year, as the season of roses drew near, our Pro-
fessor hurried home so as to be in time for his own
beautiful roses, which flourished in the sunshine, on
that high chalk hill overlooking the Darent valley.

JET. 63.] DARENT-HULME. 261

At the beginning of the long vacation, and back at
Darent-Hulme, he was almost speechless with pleasure,
going from shrub to shrub and from tree to tree, to
ascertain what havoc had been done by winter frosts,
and to contemplate the growth made during his ab-
sence. The young Gingko trees, Salisburia adiantifolia,
were among the first to be inspected. He had always
been eager to nurture them into vigour, but it must
be confessed that their growth was stunted and the
slowest. Other delicate trees of which he took special
care were the Cryptomeria elegans, whose feathery
foliage was beginning to recover its proper tone and
throw off the russet-brown of winter. Then there were
the pines in all their varieties — the " Austrians," which
flourished everywhere, and those from more sunny
climates, such as Pinus Laricio, P. excelsa, P. pinea,
P. Pinaster, &c., and the dark green P. nobilis, — one or
two of them, if the frosts had been severe, making
new leaders. Prestwich's residence at Oxford gave
some respite to these young trees, as there was less
transplanting : still, every season a certain number were
marked for removal into other positions — all carefully
indicated. No garden ever afforded keener enjoyment.
No one realised more than he the truth of the words of
Douglas Jerrold, that " a garden is a beautiful book,
writ by the finger of God : every flower and every
leaf is a letter. You have only to learn — and he is a
poor dunce that cannot, if he will, do that, — to learn
them and join them, and then to go on reading and
reading, and you will find yourself carried away
from the earth by the beautiful story you are going
through."

A letter with his views on the origin of the Drift
and its relation to the submergence of the land will be

262 MALVERN DRIFT. [1875.

read with interest. In it reference is made to a visit
paid to the Rev. W. S. Symonds at Pendock Rectory.

J. Prestwich to Rev. W. S. Symonds. OXFORD, 16th July 1875.

MY DEAR MR SYMONDS, — You asked me to give you some
idea of what my views were of the Drift phenomena you so
kindly guided me to on Monday and Tuesday last.

I told you on the spot what generally they were, and I have
little to add to the conclusions I then came to. In case, however,
I did not clearly express myself, and to avail myself of the use
of diagrams, I will now briefly state my views, so far as I can at
present form them. To commence with the last section, which
is a very instructive one, I think we there have the only instance
I saw in the Malverns of old river action — of the same age prob-
ably as the great river drifts of the Severn and Avon, but of a
more torrential and mountain-stream character. The stream in
its floods carried down the bodies of the drowned animals and
transported large quantities of gravel, while on the breaking up
of the winter frosts the side-ice of the stream took up and
carried down angular blocks of the rocks higher up. We thus
have mixed together rolled and rounded gravel and sand, and
perfectly angular blocks, together with detached and fragmentary
bones of mammalia. This gravel is overlain by a drift of angu-
lar local debris derived from the Wenlock rocks on the ridge
above. See Section No. 1, which shows the probable relation of
the different points.

Section No. 2 shows the probable relation of the gravel to
the valley and old river. There may be more than one terrace.

The other mammalian deposits had clearly no relation to old
rivers, for the two chief ones were on the eastern slope of the
Malverns at places where the ridge was continuous and no
streams or valleys debouched. From the limited localisation and
great abundance of the bones, it would seem that the carcasses of
many animals may have been drifted to those spots ; and, in the
absence of evidence of river-action, we must suppose them to
have been drowned by the encroachment of the sea on the land.
Now this may have taken place at the time of the northern drift,
and the deposit of sea-shells in the Severn valley ; but, from the

.]

MALVERN DRIFT.

263

character of the animals, it may have been of later date, and
the only evidence of the possible submergence of the land at
that later period is the angular " landwash " which subtends the
base of all your hills.

It is true that that angular debris might have been formed by
land-ice and snow ; but, besides the reasons I have given in my

Land-wash
of local rocks. &±-_

Gravel with
mamm. remains.

i. SECTION NEAR CLENCHER'S MILL, MALVERN.

2. THEORETICAL SECTION ACROSS VALLEY AT CLENCHER'S MILL.

Range of angiilar debris

Sea Level

3. SECTION OF THE MALVERNS AND ADJACENT PLAIN ON THE EAST (NEARLY
TRUE SCALE FOR HEIGHT AND DISTANCE).

Portland paper for adopting the sea view, I would point out,
in the case of the Malverns, the great distance to which, rela-
tively to the height, it extends from the base of the hill.

Section No. 3 will show you this on a true scale of height and
distance. It seems to me that no bank of snow on the slope of
the Malverns could have propelled the debris the distance a b in
an open plain. It might have extended to c or a little beyond,
but scarcely more.

264 WORK AT OXFORD. [l875.

I do not think the cause adequate to the effect. For this, and
the reasons I have given elsewhere, I am inclined to consider the
angular drift of the West and South of England all referable to
the cause I named in my Portland paper, viz., the submergence
of the land, and its emergence in a comparatively short period of
time — like that which might, for example, accompany a series of
earthquake movements. This would give a considerable trans-
porting power, but a transport neither of sufficient distance nor
of sufficient duration to produce much, or any, wear of the
materials which we might expect to find in and under this
(landwash), namely, the remains of the land animals and land
shells which lived on the submerged land. I take the red mud
deposit with its heaped collection of bones to be evidence of the
slowly advancing waters, and of the animals drowned in the
plains; while the angular debris is evidence of the more rapid
emergence and off-flow of the waters, carrying down the slopes
of the hills, and for some distance into the plains and valleys, the
loose debris of the submerged hills.

This hypothesis seems to me to explain the greater number
of phenomena, and to keep a reasonably harmonious relation
between the several sets of them. It is one I have not arrived
at hastily. It has, in fact, been the result of many years' observa-
tions. Still I am not at all wedded to it, and if it can be shown
that ice and snow or any other causes are more likely to have
been the agents which have operated that remarkable series of
changes of which you have so interesting an example in the
Severn Valley, I shall be most happy to adopt a theory which
seems better or truer.

I now have to thank you for two very pleasant days which I
enjoyed much, though to my regret I found out that my walking
powers are not what they were ; and with the kind regards of Mrs
Prestwich and myself to Mrs Symonds, believe me to be very
truly yours, J. PRESTWICH.

During the first few years at Oxford, Prestwich's
time was absorbed by the preparation of his lectures
and by work connected with the collections at the
Museum ; and, having no scientific assistant, he found

JET. 63.] EASTBOURNE. 265

the Museum work heavy and fatiguing. In 1876 he
brought out a useful pamphlet, ' On the Geological
Conditions affecting the Water-Supply to Houses and
Towns, with Special Reference to the Needs of Oxford.'

About this time also he read a paper to the Ash-
molean Society, in which he drew attention to an
artesian well of mineral water at St Clement's, a
suburb of Oxford, — its nearest allies among English
waters being those of Cheltenham and Leamington.
The existence of this well had been known to Dr
Buckland, who in 1835 had given notice of it to the
Geological Society ; afterwards it had dropped into
oblivion. Prestwich expressed his opinion that the
water of St Clement's had its origin in the New Red
Sandstone, consequently that the Coal Measures might
not be far below — a point to him of great interest.

Frequent visits at Christmas were made to the
Manor House at Old Eastbourne, which Mr and Mrs
Russell Scott tenanted for several years. The latter
gave her two guests the frequent use of the carriage,
when they were out as long as daylight lasted, and
when the amount of country traversed was startling
to the coachman, who had then been fifty years in
Mr Scott's service. When out, on one long day,
several miles from Eastbourne, and when directed by
the Professor to drive up a steep chalk slope by a sort
of rough track, the old coachman turned round and said
gravely, and with due respect — " Sir, I would do a
great deal for you, Mr Prestwich, but I could not take
my horses up there."

Then the faithful servant glanced again at the sup-
posed road, and at its utter impracticability, and burst
into such a fit of laughter that the two occupants of
the carriage could not help joining heartily with him.

266 DEATH OF HIS BROTHER. [1876-77.

Our Professor had wanted to see what was the capping
of that impossible hill.

As he was advised to keep away from Darent-Hulme
in winter, so that he should not have the temptation to
stand about transplanting trees, a week of the Christ-
mas vacation was generally spent at Eastbourne for
several successive years, and the remainder with his
wife's family at Park Crescent, where he was within
reach of many old friends.

In the early spring of 1876 another break was made
in the family circle by the death, after a brief illness, of
Edward Prestwich, the only brother of our geologist.
He had returned from India a few years before in
shattered health. It was sad that the telegram which
arrived at Oxford announcing his alarming illness came
too late for his brother (who hurried to town) to find
him in life.

A short Easter trip with Mr Waringtoii Smyth to
the Boulonnais, where they were joined by Mr J. Evans,
was very enjoyable and of much geological interest.
Extracts from two letters show how vigorously their
work was prosecuted : —

To his Wife. BOULOGNE, April 2Brd, 7 A.M.

We returned late last night, and to my regret I missed the
post I therefore write a few lines this morning, knowing not
where we may find rest for letter- writing before night, or where
we may sleep. We had a beautiful summer's morning yesterday,
and drove by Le Wast to Hardinghen, where we met Gosselet
and his class. After visiting the coal-pits, we proceeded to Haut
Baur and Ferques. There we were caught at about 4 in a most
violent thunderstorm, so that we had to shut up and drive back
in all haste to Marquise, where we left Gosselet and afterwards
returned to Boulogne, none the worse for the storm, but the
delay and loss of sections.

2ET. 64-65.] THE BOULONNAIS. 267

This morning we purpose driving to Doesvres, Brunembert, and
Lottinghen, thence per rail to St Omer, and then probably to
Lillers — returning to-morrow night here.

To Ms Wife. BOULOGNE, Friday, 8 P.M.

We have just returned from our Bethune and Lillers excursion,
which has been highly successful. We accomplished all we went
to see, and have suffered no inconveniences. We started early
yesterday and drove to Doesvres ; thence to Mennenville, to call
on the curd there, an archaeologist, and rather a stout opponent
of the Eepublic. Thence to Brunembert to see the Wealden iron-
ores, and then to the station at Lottinghen to catch the train for
St Omer and Bethune, where we arrived at 6. We stopt at an
old Spanish-built hotel — had a very fair dinner at 7, good rooms
and coffee in the morning, and our bill was 7 francs each — that,
by the bye, included a bottle of margaux at 5 francs. . . . This
morning we started at 5 A.M. and drove to Pernes — another
unspoilt place, our dejeuner' there costing us 1.50 each. We there
saw the sections we wanted, and then proceeded to Auchy-au-
bois, where we introduced ourselves to the engineer — an excellent
fellow, who gave us all the particulars, and they were extremely
curious. He wanted and pressed us to stop to lunch, but time did
not allow. We made ourselves perfectly acquainted with this,
the most western, prolongation of the North of France coal-field,
and with some geological phenomena of great interest. He
offered to send us on to Lillers per coal railway-engine, but as we
had already experienced a mile of this travelling we declined,
and managed to drive to Lillers just in time to catch the
train. To-morrow we start at 7 for Guines and Belinghen, but
shall return early. I am also looking forward now to travel
home.

He generally returned from an Easter excursion
refreshed and invigorated.

In a letter of 6th March 1877, Captain Petrie, the
courteous Secretary of the Victoria Institute and editor
of its journal, requested Prestwich to authorise the

268 THE BIBLE AND GEOLOGY. [l877.

publication of a sentence quoted by the Rev. Professor
Pritchard in a communication to the Institute, namely,
" My brother Professor of Geology tells me the geology
of the Bible is not the geology of nature." To this
Joseph Prestwich made reply : —

J. Prestwich to F. Petrie. OXFORD, 7th March 1877.

SIR, — I am obliged by your courtesy in submitting to me
before publication the words I am reported to have used in
conversation with my friend and colleague the Professor of
Astronomy. There must be some misunderstanding on the part
of Professor Pritchard in attributing the words to me, as the
association of the Bible and geology is one I never make, holding
the two to be perfectly distinct and to be studied independently.
I accept the truths concerning our moral and spiritual nature
from the Bible, but in all that concerns physical nature I look to
Nature herself for an explanation.

I therefore always avoid controversy on a subject where the
terms are not equal, and which do not, I think, at present admit of
discussion. Wishing to adhere to this rule, kindly avoid bringing
my name forward in the matter, and I am, sir, yours faithfully,

J. PRESTWICH.

I have just seen Professor Pritchard, who will write to
you. In the general sense of my friend's remarks I quite
agree.

In an article in 'Nature' (May 3, 1877), on "Deep
Well-Borings in London," Professor Judd, F.RS., re-
fers to our geologist's work — 'The Water - Bearing
Strata around London, &c.' — as

A masterpiece of minute observations and close and accurate
reasoning. . . . After a most elaborate study of the nature and
relations of the various strata which crop out all around the
London Basin, and of the disturbances to which they have been
subjected since their deposition, Mr Prestwich ventured on a
bold prediction — namely, that the Chalk beneath London would

Ml. 65.] EXCURSION TO EAST HEKDRED. 269

be found to have a thickness of 650 feet, the Upper Greensand
of 40 feet, and the Gault of 150 feet.— Op. cit., p. 142.

At the time when this announcement was made, no well in
London had been sunk to a greater depth than 300 feet in the
Chalk ; but now we can appeal to no less than four deep borings
in the Metropolis, which afford the most convincing proof of the
reliability of the data, and the accuracy of the reasoning by which
Mr Prestwich arrived at his interesting result. ... It will be
admitted on all hands that the agreement between the estimated
and proved results is marvellously close.

Further investigations for a better water-supply for
Oxford led our Professor far afield. A long expedi-
tion in quest of perennial springs was to the Cottes-
wolds, approached from Bourton-on-the- Water. On one
other he ventured to take his class — namely, to the
remote village of East Hendred, nestling in a depres-
sion of the chalk-hills, several miles above Wantage.
From the railway at Didcot a brake carried about a
dozen of the party, the others proceeding on foot.
On the return journey, when on the summit of the
bare down (the driver of the brake having left the
road and having begun to go at a foot's pace down
the uneven, grassy slope), the party was overtaken
by a terrific thunderstorm. The undergraduates had
just begun to troop down in the direction of the fine
spring issuing at the foot of the hills, and which
had been the sight reserved for them on their home-
ward road, when the rain fell as if from a water-
spout. Coats and umbrellas were never carried. Our
Professor pulled off his overcoat, throwing it to the
first man overtaken. The only course was to make
for Didcot, and, pressing on at their hardest pace, it
was happily reached just in time for the train for
Oxford. Fortunately none of the students caught cold,

270 JOHN TYNDALL. [l877.

as the trusty Caudell l ascertained by inquiring at the
several colleges next morning. It was an experiment
never repeated.

While touching on this subject, it may be mentioned
that a few years later (1882) Professor Tyndall wrote
to say that he was about to build a rural retreat on
Hind Head, 800 feet above the sea. After explain-
ing that it would be necessary to bore to a great
depth for water, he -proceeded to say: "If by any
geological magic you could help us to obtain water
on cheaper terms than the sinking of a [deep] well ;
and if, by the magic of kindness, you could be in-
duced to communicate to us the secret, we should be
greatly obliged."

Just at this time there was frequent correspondence
with the Rev. Osmond Fisher on cosmical questions.

J. Prestwich to Rev. 0. Fisher.

SHOREHAM, near SEVENOAKS, 12th July 1877.

MY DEAR FISHER, — You judge rightly that we are here, but,
I am sorry to say, only in part enjoyment of my country
residence. . . .

The glacial action was so general in Europe, Asia, and America
— and we have reason to believe also in the southern hemi-
sphere— that I cannot but attribute it to some cosmical phe-
nomena, and consider that the earth lost more heat absolutely
in equal periods to what it did before or since. You, however,
raise a question I had not considered before, and which I will
reflect over. I am sorry to hear you are so poorly. As soon
as I am better, I hope you will come and take a few days'
change here.

Professor and Mrs Prestwich always found the
kindest of friends and neighbours at Shoreham Vicar-

1 Henry Caudell, the faithful museum servant of the late Professor
Phillips, and subsequently of Professor Prestwich.

JET. 65.] DRIVING TOUR. 271

age in the Rev. J. and Mrs Lovett Cameron — the
parents of Commander Verney Lovett Cameron, the
distinguished African traveller and pioneer, who had
lately returned from his wonderful walk across the
Dark Continent. He was one of the first explorers
of Africa, and always foretold its great future.

A very pleasant trip was a driving tour with Mr
and Mrs Evans. The start was made from Bletchley
on the 31st July, Mr Evans's carriage having been sent
on in advance. The route was through Buckingham,
skirting Stowe and other fine country seats, on to
Towcester, whence next day they proceeded to Dav-
entry. The ostensible object of this tour was health
and recreation, yet it was combined with well-planned
geological purpose. A richly wooded and undulating
country without water was traversed, until they
crossed the Avon before arriving at Warwick. Each
day had furnished pits as well as spreads of gravel
for the two geologists, who, however, joined their
wives in a visit to the museum and also to the
historic castle --a monument of ancient splendour
preserved in habitable order.

One of the finest views seen in leaving Warwick
was the sweep of the Avon round the base of Guy's
Cliff, where, by the side of the river, our Professor
detected a valley terrace eight feet above it. Both
geologists were delighted with Kenil worth, which, in
contrast with Warwick, is the ancient castle in ruins.
Coventry, with its great churches and ribbon factories,
had a visit ; yet their keenest interest was in gravel-
pits on the road to Atherstone, and in the large
boulders passed in approaching Stoke Golding. Market
Bosworth was selected for the Sunday's rest : it was
full of memories for Mr Evans, being his father's

272 CHABNWOOD FOREST. [l877.

resting-place and that of several of his kindred. The
drive through the Moira coal-district showed no evi-
dence of its being a mining country, except for the
chimney-stalks standing in the greenest of fields.

The two geologists being desirous of a clear day for
exploration of the upper Trent Valley, a stay of two
nights was made at Ashby-de-la-Zouch. They in-
spected the ruined castle of Scott's ' Ivanhoe,' as well
as the " Tournament Ground" ; yet it was with keener
zest that next morning, in spite of rain, they started
on a drive of many miles through the greenest of green
valleys, where they found pits to please them, with
exhibitions of "Drifts" of varied character.

From Ashby-de-la-Zouch the route was through
what remained of Charnwood Forest — the scenery on
its borders most striking from the dark slate - rocks
which protruded, piled up in ridges and pillars 011
the hills. The culminating interest of this tour was,
however, in the granite quarries of Mount Sorrel : it
was with difficulty that Prestwich could be persuaded
to leave them. After a hurried glimpse of quarries
of blue slates at a little distance off, their road
took the party close to Bradgate Castle, the early
home of Lady Jane Grey — a ruin standing in the
park, with a picturesque surrounding of gnarled and
knotted old oak - trees. Grooby Castle had also a
brief visit. But for two of the party the ruin was
not the attraction : they had heard of a certain pit
close to it, and also of a syenite quarry. A five miles'
drive took the tourists to Leicester, where the carriage
was exchanged for the railway, and late in the evening
they reached Nash Mills.

The excursion had been altogether delightful : our
Professor had got rid of sciatica, and had made volum-

JET. 65.] THE BARONETCY. 273

inous notes of pits and Drift and boulders. The great
granite quarries of Mount Sorrel alone were more than
enough to repay a journey to the north.

Folkestone, which was familiar ground, was a resort
in the autumn — one excursion being made to Dover
and Walmer, where, it can be affirmed, he knew every
bend and cliff of that coast. The same may be said
of Margate and Ramsgate, where a day was spent,
and where another careful survey was made.

Early in October he was accompanied to Maidstone
by the Rev. Osmond Fisher, whence they made an
inspection of the pits and brickfield near Aylesford.
Prestwich next paid a flying visit to Hitchin, in order
to examine a certain clay - pit on Messrs Hansome's
ground, and of which he as usual sketched a section.

He had been repeatedly urged by an aged relative —
a cousin of his family — to take up the baronetcy, and
it was at this time he again decided to have his claim
to it sifted. The following letter was addressed to a
young barrister, his nephew by marriage :—

J. Prestwich to H. B. Tomkins.

SHOREHAM, near SEVENOAKS, 8th October 1877.

MY DEAR HENRY, — I hear you have been devoting much time
and attention to the family genealogies. My own, as you are
probably aware, is somewhat intricate, and involves the holding
of a baronetcy. This I have never thought fit to take up, from
considerations of position, incompleteness of evidence, and ex-
pense. I should now feel disposed to take it up if the evidence
could be complete without too much expense. My old friend Mr
Flower the solicitor had the papers in his hands for some time,
but his death interrupted his friendly investigation.

What I should like now to do would be, if you have the leisure
and inclination to undertake such a work, to place it in your
hands as a professional matter. It may give you a little occu-

S

274 PLAN FOR EASTER EXCURSION. [1878.

pation till you are more fully engaged in your ordinary law
business. As I have said, the evidence is incomplete, but it
was, I believe, at one time complete or nearly so, but many of
the important documents were lost in a pocket-book of which
my father was robbed many years ago. His cousin, Sir John
Prestwich, took up the title, but did not enter it. It is his
papers chiefly that we have, and as he or his father was de-
scended from, I believe, a junior brother, his collection is more
complete in that direction than my father's. All the papers,
however, such as they are, I have, and I can place them in
your hands to look at and see what could be made of them.
As your Aunt Emily is here, I will ask her to take up the tin
box with her to South Street, and if your mother could kindly
call for it some day she is driving past, I should be much obliged.
The books we have at Oxford, where we should be glad to see
you at any time ; and I am, your affecte. uncle,

JOSEPH PEESTWICH.

I enclose a copy of the best table I was able to make out
many years since.

The death of Mr H. B. Tomkins took place before he
had completed his search among the old family papers
and registers, and no other steps were taken.

The following letter gives the route for an Easter
excursion, which was afterwards modified : —

J. Prestwich to J. Evans. OXFORD, 17 th March.

MY DEAE EVANS, — I have not yet quite planned the route,
but as well as I can make out the points we should visit, it will
be about this : —

Paris to Montlugon. Miocene, Granite, and Coal-Measures.
Ahun and Lamaraix-les- Mines. Coal-Measures in a Granite
basin. Kaolin works. Valley Drift. Deep valley cut
through Gneiss and Granite to

Aubusson. Thence, if there is a road, across the Correze to
Ussel. Crystalline rocks. By rail (?) to

MT. 66.] GEOLOGY AND MATHEMATICS. 275

Tulle and Brives, and then a short visit to some pits in the
valleys of the Vezere and Dordogne.

Then Toulouse, St Gaudens, Tarbes, Pau, Bayonne, Biarritz, St
Jean de Luz, and Irun for caves and coast-sections.

When planned, I must write to L. Lartet and Eaulin. I hope
to see you on Wednesday. . . .

You see I omit Limoges and keep farther east. My wife says
I am not to be allowed to go unless you are of the party. She
has just been looking at the map, and condemns somewhat
strongly the Central France portion — hills, mountains, precipices,
frost, and snow ; but approves of the South of France part. I
tell her we can report of the country when we come back.

J. Prestwicli to Rev. 0. Fisher. OXFORD, llth March 1878.

MY DEAR FISHER, — You encourage me to ask you any geo-
logical question involving mathematical investigation. There
is one I have been considering, and which you have already
closely touched upon. Is it possible that earthquake waves
can be transmitted by a crust so rigid as that which Sir W.
Thomson l would establish ? In those cases where trees wave
from side to side, and we have other evidences of a rolling
motion of the crust, it seems to me impossible that a mere
vibration of the shock is sufficient. Such vibration may be
transmitted, but it seems to me hardly in that form and to
such distances.

What think you on mathematical grounds ? Are you going
to pay Oxford a visit this term? I have yet two weeks of
lectures on Tertiary and Quaternary Strata. Next term I com-
mence excursions, and lecture on the ground to be visited, If
you can join in any of them it will give me much pleasure.
Mrs Prestwich desires her kind regards, and hoping you and
your boys are all well, I am, sincerely yours,

Jos. PRESTWICH.

J. Prestivich to Rev. 0. Fisher. OXFORD, 28th March [1878],

MY DEAR FISHER, — Thanks for your note and explanations.
I can quite understand the propagation of a wave in a given

1 Now Lord Kelvin.

276 THE EARTH'S CRUST. [ms.

direction through or along a rigid and at the same time an
elastic body like steel, provided it has the form of a plate
moving in or on media not of sufficient resistance to interfere
materially with the play of the plate, as it would be with the
crust of the earth, with the atmosphere on one side and a fluid
nucleus on the other. But I cannot understand the transmis-
sion of a rolling motion and the production of great transverse
fissures without the actual movement, as you would have in the
shaking of a carpet, of the whole mass of the crust affected by
the disturbance.

Admitting that Sir William Thomson's investigations estab-
lished great rigidity as a whole, it still appears to me that there
must be fluid remnants at no great depth, although the central
nucleus as well as the outer crust are solidified. I certainly
understand from Mallet's description, and the account of others,
that although the movement or shock is vertical in places, that
in others it is one from side to side.

No hypothesis, it seems to me, meets all the conditions of
geological phenomena so well (or if it meets [them] all) as that
of the original fluidity of the globe, and I would think that none
meets the present condition of volcanic and earthquake dis-
turbances so well as that the solidification is not yet thoroughly
complete, though the remaining quantity of fluid matter is not
such as to interfere with the rigidity required by Sir W. T.
to answer his determined conditions. This, in fact, is very
much the hypothesis of Mr Hopkins, but I should hesitate to
accept the thickness he assigns to the external crust. I would
refer earthquakes to that cause which has ever been affecting
the crust of the earth — the incessant readjustment to a con-
tracting nucleus, however small that contraction may have
become.

I saw Hughes1 yesterday, and heard of the Barnwell dis-
covery. I hope he will accompany Evans and myself this
Easter to some of the French caves. I am sorry to hear your
armchair has such a hold of you, but trust it will become less
fixed as summer advances ; and with our united kind regards, I
am, sincerely yours, Jos. PHESTWICH.

1 Woodwardian Professor of Geology, Cambridge.

JET. 66.] EASTER EXCURSION. 277

The following letter gives the itinerary for the Easter
excursion ; it was only slightly altered on the return
journey to Paris :—

J. Prestwick to J. Evans. OXFORD, 28th March 1878.

MY DEAR EVANS, — M. Massenat will do as well as M. Laval-
lant for Brives. What was the place you had in view in the
neighbourhood of Poitiers ? The caves on the Charente, between
Civray and Charroux, seem to me of considerable interest. See
M. de Longuemar's 'Kapport sur une Exploration methodique
des Grottes du Chaffaud ' ; also the 1869 ' Congres International
d'Anthropologie,' Copenhagen, pp. 128-134.

I would therefore propose to take the 9.30 A.M. train on the
14th April from Paris to Civray, and the omnibus at once to
Charroux, where a M. Brouillet has a collection.

15. Work our way along the Charente to Civray : sleep there,
and take the 9.14 A.M. train to Dax.

16. Proceed by the 11.25 A.M. train to Bayonne.

17. Bayonne and neighbourhood.

18. Coast from Biarritz to St Jean de Luz, &c., on to Irun or
San Sebastian.

19. Coast-section, and return to Bayonne.

20. 5.50 A.M. train to Toulouse, stopping one day at some place
to be settled on en route.

22 and 23. Toulouse and neighbourhood.

24. 5 A.M. train to Brives, and spend the day there. You
know, I suppose, the few papers on this district.

25 and 26. Brives to Tarascon, and thence along the Vezere by
Martignac to Le Bugue and Les Eyzies.

27. Perigueux and some other place, and on to Limoges.

28. 10 A.M. train to Paris.

29. Eeturn to London, or if the 3 train would do for our
return there, we might have a day to spare for Paris or else-
where. I find I must leave out the Creuse and the Correze.
Our route south of Bayonne must also depend on information
we receive there. You can discuss this plan with Hughes on
Sunday, and next week I hope to meet you at the Geological. —
Ever sincerely yours, J. PEESTWICH.

278 BRITISH ASSOCIATION. [l878.

Prestwich had invited his old friend Mr George
Busk,1 the distinguished surgeon and anthropologist,
to be one of the party : —

G. Busk to J. Prestwich. 32 HARLEY STREET, March 28, 1878.

MY DEAR PKESTWICH, — I have taken two or three days to
think the matter over, and though sorely tempted, feel that it will
be better that I should not attempt to join your party at Easter.
The party and the route are equally tempting, and I should have
been much delighted to visit Toulouse. ... I am above measure
delighted, however, to find that you are so well as to induce Mrs
Prestwich to allow you to go. Pray give her our kindest re-
gards. Believe me, yours very truly, GEO. BUSK.

Before starting on this Easter trip, Prestwich was
made a livery-man of the City of London, having been
elected a member of the Turners' Company.

On the 8th of April a letter was received from the
General Secretary of the British Association (Captain
Douglas Galton) requesting Prestwich to allow himself
to be put in nomination for the office of President of the
British Association Meeting for 1879. He was much
gratified, yet felt it his duty to decline the honour.
He was living at far too high pressure, and decided to
accept no office nor duties which would abstract time
from his own science.

A few days later he set out for Bordeaux, Toulouse,
&c., with " Evans, Galton, and Hughes, Smyth joining
for three days at Bayonne." An extract is given from
a letter to his wife from Paris, to which he travelled
with Professor Hughes :-—

We arrived here in due course, and by 7.30 we were comfort-
ably at dinner in the Corazza Cafe in the Palais Eoyal. Evans

George Busk, born 1807 ; died 1886.

JET. 66.] PARIS AND THE PYRENEES. 279

and Galton arrived this morning, and we have been out the
whole of the day, having returned just in time for these few
lines. The weather is lovely — cloudless and warm — the chestnut
trees green with young leaf. We have seen Hamy, Quatrefages,
and Hubert, who has invited us to dinner on Sunday fortnight.
We called also on Gaudry, but only found Madame at home.
Daubree I hope to see to-morrow — Emily also. Paris is more
beautiful than ever — little traces now of the war. The Hotel de
Ville is, however, still to be rebuilt. How I wish you were here
with me. We are now off to Champeaux and then to the Vaude-
ville or the Variete's.

Again to his wife on leaving Paris, 14th April : —

Just one line as we are starting. . . . We were out the whole
of the day, visiting Gaudry, Hebert, Daubree, &c., and found it
difficult to get away from them and from Paris. The weather
continues lovely, and we leave at 8.45 this morning. M. Longue-
mar wishes us to stop three hours at Poitiers, so we are doing
so, and reach Civray at the same hour, 6.20. You cannot now
hear from me till Wednesday.

To his Wife. BAYONNE, 20th April.

After all we are going to San Sebastian. We are now just
starting for St Jean de Luz, and thence on to Irun and San Sebas-
tian. We return here on Sunday night to proceed by early train
to Caresse, Lourdes, and Toulouse, which we shall reach on
Tuesday and remain at till Thursday, or rather Friday morning.
The weather is again lovely. Yesterday we had a most delight-
ful day in one of the beautiful valleys in the Pyrenees with
M. Detroyat and Le Marquis de Folin. The latter is Mr Jeffreys'
friend and a capital fellow. They are most hospitable and kind.
In fact, we find it difficult to get away. Yesterday, while at
Itzatzou, a carriage passed with a friend of one of our compan-
ions, who invited us all to proceed and spend the night and next
day with him in the very heart of the Pyrenees. We met with
at this little village an excellent geologist — a Dr Guidu — who
acted as our guide, and showed us a fine collection of the rocks of

280 SAN SEBASTIAN. [1878.

the Pyrenees. We are fully occupied and out all day long, but
it suits me perfectly, and I am quite well and enjoying myself
immensely. My only wish that you were with me.

To the Same. LOTTRDBS, 23rd April 1878.

Since writing to you from Bayonne we have been to La
Guetanz, thence along the cliffs to St Jean de Luz, and by
carriage to Hendaye. On this walk I witnessed one of the most
singular tempests I ever experienced. The morning was hot and
sultry in the extreme — not a breath of air, so hot that even I
had to put up my umbrella. At Guetanz we went at 1 to the
hotel to breakfast, or rather lunch. Suddenly the sky clouded
over, the wind rose, and in fifteen minutes it was blowing a
hurricane as though it would blow the house down. It lasted
two hours and then partly ceased, when we continued our route.
The sea was a mass of foam and running very high. At a dis-
tance of a mile from shore we saw a boat full of people, whose
position we thought extremely dangerous. In fact, after watch-
ing it for ten minutes we walked on, but on looking there again
we could see nothing of the unfortunate boat. The next day we
heard that almost every village along the coast had lost boats
which had gone out and were caught by the suddenness of the
gale. We heard of 50 lives having been lost. The high road
was blocked by fallen trees. I hope this gale did not reach our
coasts.

On Sunday morning we drove over from Hendaye to San Sebas-
tian— got there to breakfast, and then went to high mass at the
large church. The music was a full orchestral band. I called
on a M. Brunet, who insisted on accompanying us to the coast
and to the various sections in the neighbourhood. There was
not, however, much to see. After dinner at an excellent hotel,
where, however, the cuisine was entirely French, we returned to
Bayonne, which we reached at 10.15 P.M. We found the com-
mandant and M. Detroyat waiting our arrival, and the latter
offered to accompany us to-day — an offer which we gladly ac-
cepted. Starting at 5.45, we stopped at Peyrehorade, and then
hired to visit " la grotte de Sordes " and some implement-bearing
beds on the top of a hill above Caresse.

The weather at starting was very wet, but it cleared up and

MT. 66.] SOUTH WALES. 281

we have had a fine day. At 3 we came on to this place, stopping
half an hour at Pau, which gave us time to see the Terrace and
Castle. ... I must confess that I am disappointed with the
scenery. There are places of great beauty, such as Cambo and
Itzatzou, and this, but the rest of the scenery we passed through,
were it not for the distant Pyrenees, is somewhat tame and
monotonous. This place is in a beautiful situation. After
dinner we strolled down to the Grotte Miraculeuse. It was like
going through a fair — solicited on all sides to buy photographs,
wax candles, rosaries, medals, &c. . . . To-morrow we see the
other (ossiferous) grottes, and then proceed to Lannemezean and
Toulouse, which I hope to reach at 9.20 P.M., and there to find
letters from you.

To his Wife. TOULOUSE, 21th April 1878.

On arriving here last night we found L. Lartet waiting for us.
He has been out with us all day, and we have arranged to go
this evening at 5.50 to Foix in the Pyrenees. So I have only
time to write a very few lines. We return here to-morrow
morning — stop here Friday, and proceed early on Saturday to
Brives. After that it is uncertain where we stop, unless at Peri-
gueux. So please write to P. E., Paris. Madame Lartet inquired
particularly after all — Uncle Charles and sisters — and hopes to
see you here some day. . . .

The Lartets are full of recollections of your dear Uncle Hugh.

The party travelled home vid Paris, and the Pro-
fessor reached Oxford at the given date to begin his
summer-class excursions. At the end of term, on the
22nd June, he set out on a journey of exploration to the
Gower Coast and St David's. Two or three days were
spent at Gloucester, where he was joined by Mr W. C.
Lucy in examining the gravel which caps some of the
hills in various directions in the neighbourhood, and in
ascertaining its component parts.

From Swansea he proceeded by the Gower coast to
Rhos Sili in a day of fervent heat, which added greatly

282 A HOT DAY. [1878.

to the fatigue, there being no shelter. Still, as he had
come upon evidence of a raised beach on the hill be-
tween Full Bay and Rh6s Sili, and of a large bed of
Drift, he would not hear of fatigue or exhaustion.
When hour after hour had passed, and his wife urged
that the heat was hardly endurable, and that although
there was " water, water everywhere, yet not a drop
to drink," he only applied himself harder to work,
with the old answer, " Now or never," and climbing up
the beach as if on springs, set to dig out specimens of
it and of the Drift to carry to Oxford. His exertions
in that fierce glow seemed superhuman.

They reached Rhos Sili when the shades of even had
gathered, the horse almost as exhausted as the two
tourists. Entering the lodging engaged, Mrs Prest-
wich's first petition was for water or something to
quench their thirst. " Please, some soda water, and
quick ! "

To the puzzled landlady, it was explained with a
gesture that it was water that fizzed up.

" Ah, ma'am, you will be meaning pop ? "

"Yes, pop, but please quick, quick!1'

The landlady hereupon sent to the " Ship " for
" pop," but owing to the heat it had all been sold out.

" We shall be so thankful to have something to eat
— we have had no dinner."

" Dinner, ma'am — and what have you brought ? "

" Nothing, we have brought nothing."

" Every one brings their victuals here, ma'am."

It was a poor look-out, no meat in the village and
one egg in the cottage ! The worthy landlady did her
best ; tea and eggs were forthcoming, but as it proved
afterwards, two days upon this fare did not suit our
geologist to work upon, while making very unusual

Ml.

5.] RHOS SILI BAY. 283

exertion. Yet the scarcity of food, or rather the ab-
stention from food that he could not eat, did not
trouble him in the very least, though it did trouble
his companion. He was so absorbed and delighted
with the Drift and the fragments of a raised beach,
that he only thought of the details of the day being
entered in a note-book.

Next morning they called on the Rev. Ponsonby
and Mrs Lucas, to whom they had a letter of intro-
duction, the former the brother of the late Lady
Gardner Wilkinson. They had heard of a gentleman
and lady passing the night in the village, and had been
compassionating them on account of the unprecedented
heat. When Professor Prestwich expressed his inten-
tion to send his wife across country in the waggonette,
while he himself should walk along the shore north of
Rhos Sili Bay, so as to examine the coast, Mr Lucas
most kindly volunteered to accompany him. The long
walk with its traces of old beach was one of surpassing
interest to the geologist, who also came upon vestiges
of Drift, but it caused Mr Lucas a serious illness. The
heat was so great that they could not sit down to rest
on the glowing sands, and many weeks passed before
Mr Lucas recovered.

Prestwich prophesied a future for Rhos Sili and its
stretch of beautiful sands, — that one day it would be-
come a great sea-side resort. He found traces of
raised beach at Burry Holmes, Sprit sail Point, and at
the station next beyond Llanelly.

The drive from Haverfordwest to St David's was a
comparative rest, but at the end of a week of severe
climbing up and down the old rocks on the rugged
coast of St David's, to Porthclais, Caerbuddy, Porth-
lisky, not forgetting a day at Whitesand Bay, he was

284 HAVERFORDWEST. [l878.

struck down by an attack of sciatica. The kind
doctor at St David's advised immediate return to
Oxford, with the halt of a night at Neath. The
first part of the journey was a terrible experience.
The invalid had been assisted out and lifted up be-
side the driver of a waggonette, his wife behind with
their light luggage. When about five miles from St
David's, with nearly twelve to be traversed before
reaching Haverfordwest, and on a bare exposed road
beyond reach of aid or shelter, a violent thunderstorm
burst. When at its height — the lightning vivid, and
the rain falling in such force that it penetrated the
leather bags — the Professor called out to the driver
to stop, that his leg must be moved — that his position
was insupportable ! What a moment ! And what a
journey ! Mercifully, the storm was not of long
duration, and the last few miles to the railway at
Haverfordwest were got over without further incident.
After a fortnight's rest at Oxford, Prestwich was
able to accompany Professor Morris to Wantage, and
also to drive with him and Mr Hudleston to examine
the summit of Brill Hill, which had always been of
special interest. In the end of July a long day was
spent at Ewelme, the object being to see the fine spring
which rises at the base of the Chilterns, issuing at the
foot of a slope in the garden of the Manor House, which
is situated at the north end of the village. On being
told that all the members of the squire's family were
absent, the Professor, followed by his wife, went down
through the garden, and they on their knees were
rejoicingly laving up the pure water from its source,
when they were startled by a voice. The trespassers
scrambled to their feet, and made apologies to a young
man, apparently one of the family, who was much

JET. 66.] JOURNEY TO LOCHABER. 285

amused : he begged of Professor Prestwich to continue
his researches, and hurried away.

It was not the geology only of such places as
Dorchester, Shillingford, and Wallingford, which were
explored on the way to Ewelme, that made the visit to
it memorable. The history of several of the localities
appealed powerfully to the imagination, most of all that
of the old-world village of Ewelme itself. A pathetic
human interest pervades its very atmosphere, and its
group of ancient buildings. The church, grammar-
school, and especially its picturesque old alms-house,
could not be dissociated in one's mind from the tragic
end of the ill-fated Duke of Suffolk, their unhappy
founder.

The excursion, however, which stands out amongst all
other excursions, was that made in the autumn of 1878
to Glen Roy and the Parallel Roads of Lochaber.
Prestwich had long been desirous of seeing these famous
16 terraces" for himself, and he now planned a journey
to the north, which should include also a search along
the western and south-western shores of Scotland for
raised beaches, boulders, and Drift.

After a couple of days with relatives at Stirling,
when every hour was utilised in reading off the feat-
ures of the district, the two tourists proceeded to Tyn-
drum and on by coach through Glencoe to Ballachulish
on Loch Leven. Heavy rain compelled them to take in-
side seats in the Glencoe coach : fortunately, however,
they had the coupe, so that views were had of the wild
Highland country. At Inveroran, where horses were
changed, they had a pleasant meeting with Mr Herbert
Spencer, who had been waiting there several days for
rain which was needed for fishing. The downpour
had resolved itself into fitful showers, and the storm

286 GLENCOE. [1878.

clouds which had veiled the mountains were uplifted
as they entered the never-to-be-forgotten Pass of
Glencoe. Gradually a glorious sunset lighted and
touched the mountain summits and outlines with a
beauty indescribable. The scene was solemn and awe-
inspiring, and the travellers sat in silence, almost over-
powered by its grandeur. That sunset upon the
rugged towering cliffs, apart from the tragic memories
of the Glen, would alone have been well worth a thou-
sand miles of travel.

The day following being Sunday, Professor and Mrs
Prestwich accompanied the Rev. Dr Story from the
Ballachulish Hotel to Glencoe, where the rev. gentle-
man conducted the service of the Church of Scotland.
The deep reverence of that small congregation was
very impressive ; and as all joined with fervour in sing-
ing from the Scottish metrical version of the Psalms to
their own plaintive melodies, one could not but remem-
ber that this remnant of the clan represented the few
descendants of the MacDonalds who escaped the cruel
massacre.

In a long afternoon walk on the seaward shore,
Prestwich was charmed with the scenery, the evidence
of a raised beach, ice- act ion, and geology in general.
One large boulder on the Loch Leven shore was
pointed out to him next morning as St Peter's stone,
and he was well satisfied with the display of polished
stones and roches moutonnees. The morning was spent in
the slate quarries of Glencoe, and a brief visit was made
to a newly opened granite quarry. Rain fell heavily
as they left Fort William and got out in the wild tract
skirting Ben Nevis, but by the time Roy Bridge was
reached it had cleared, so that there was a fine view in
the evening light of the mountains patched with snow.

m. 66.] GLEN SPEAN. 287

Mr Mackintosh of the comfortable inn of Bridge of
Roy suggested Loch Laggan for the first excursion
in case of rain : it involved little walking, and the road
was excellent. Starting in a light dogcart, the trav-
ellers had only gone a few miles when the clouds
vanished, the mists fled from the mountains, and in
driving in bright sunshine up through the romantic
Glen Spean, they felt as if transported into fairyland.
Branching off from the grand road of the Spean valley
was one to the right leading to Loch Treig, which
Prestwich was eager to visit. He had noted the mounds
of moraine crossing the valley through which the Treig
had cut a passage. An hour's halt at the lonely and
silent Loch Treig, treeless, and enclosed by high hills
literally covered with heather, enabled him to climb
the heights of its western shore, which he found glaci-
ated to 400 or 500 feet or more above the Loch. Re-
gaining the main road, he was absorbed in the drive
to Loch Laggan in observing all around the exhibition
of ice action. " On north side of Spean Valley, thence
to Moy, met with enormous accumulation of moraine
blocks, which became less and less mixed with gravel
in ascending, while the bare rocks everywhere showed
striation." They put up at a refreshment house,
originally built by Mr Ansdell, R.A., near which, feed-
ing on grassy knolls, were to be seen specimens of the
" ewie wi' the crookit horn," made familiar by his
paintings : a walk of a mile and the low bleak shore of
Loch Laggan was reached. The drive back to Roy
Bridge was taken leisurely. From time to time Pro-
fessor Prestwich alighted to measure the direction of
the strise on the rocks by the roadside.

On August 14th, in glorious weather, the object of
the journey to Scotland was achieved, and a visit paid

288 THE PARALLEL ROADS OF GLEN ROY. [1878.

to Glen Roy and its Parallel Roads. At an early hour
Bohuntine was passed, and when some way up the
Glen the Professor and his companion alighted to climb
the upper side of Bohuntine Hill, whence there was a
good view of the " terraces." The Roy or Red Glen
had been well named. The air in that blazing August
sun was scented by miles of heather in bloom which
carpeted the hills, and which mingled its perfume with
the sweet wild gale- in the lower slopes. Within a
mile or so of the head of the Glen they ascended to
the two higher " Parallel Roads," and following them
round to Glen Turret, descended to the entrance to
Glen Gluoy. A little volume might be filled with
sketches and details of this ever-to-be-remembered visit
to Glen Roy. The tourists found themselves again in
fairyland, and to Professor Prestwich the day was one
of keenest geological interest.

A week's sojourn at Bridge of Roy was employed in
daily exploration of the hills nearest to those of Glen
Roy and of the accessory glens. Brilliant weather
added to the intense enjoyment, and until the end of
the week there had not been a shower.

After a morning spent in climbing the hills, whence
they descended over the pass to Boheenie, a romantic
road by the left bank of the Roy brought them back to
the Inn. In the afternoon they started for Glen Larig,
driving as far as Spean Inn, and then up on the
opposite bank of the Spean nearly to Insch. Finding
at a hovel called Achnafraschoille a tall young High-
lander to act as a guide, they trod on through the long
heather, Glen Larig seeming always to recede. When
nearing its entrance, and about three miles from where
the dogcart had been left, rain began to fall heavily.
Our Professor, however, determined to press on with

2ET. 66.] KERREBA. 289

Macdonald, his wife agreeing to wait by a boulder.
But the rain was persistent, dark mists closed round,
obscuring any view of the glen, and when he returned
with the guide it was with disappointment that he had
not found the " Parallel Road," which ends in Glen
Larig, more clearly exhibited. Still the walk in the
heavy rain through the long wet heather was more
than compensated for by the geological features he had
been able to see of Glen Larig Leacan, and of the re-
markable ravine at its entrance.

Roy Bridge was left with regret and in a steady
downpour, but mine host had found a close carriage for
the travellers, who followed the road to the Falls of
Mucomir, near to which the Spean enters Loch Lochy.
In spite of rain, geological observations were made.
It was seen that all the low islands thence from Loch
Linnhe to Oban, including Lismore, are strongly glac-
iated, from their summit down to the water's edge.
Oban was reached in the evening, and early next day
they crossed the ferry to the island of Kerrera, rain
unluckily beginning to fall before they stepped from
the boat, and increasing as they followed the cartway
by the shore, whence they went steadily on in search of
raised beaches. After ascending high ground in face of
wind and rain, they came down to the ruins of Castle
Gulin, a Danish fortress where Alexander II. of Scot-
land died in 1249. Here they were besieged by a herd
of Highland cattle, and might have been detained about
ten minutes (which under the conditions seemed a
time interminable), when the herd suddenly moved off
down to better pasture near the shore, and the excur-
sionists gladly made their escape up the steep track
which they had previously descended.

The next day's geologising was on the mainland,.

T

290 OBAN TO AYR. [l878.

when a visit was made to the large quarry of coarse
black slate with the great Old Red conglomerate in
apparent juxtaposition, just outside the town. The
Professor had previously detected traces of the 10 -feet
raised beach on the south end of Kerrera : now in Oban
he noted that " a fine example of the 40-feet raised
beach is exposed at the back of the United Presby-
terian Church and of Victoria Place." The 10 -feet
raised beach on the • north side of the Great Western
Hotel was examined. In short, his notes of Dun-
staffnage and of the geology round Oban are volum-
inous. But he had not done with Kerrera, and before
leaving the district another day was spent in going
over the northern coast of the island, when only slight
traces of the 10-feet beach were met with.

The journey to Inverary by the Pass of Brander and
Dalmally supplied abundant material for geological
notes, as did in especial the entrance to Glen Orchy
with its hummocks of moraine. The observations on
the route from Inverary to Lochgoilhead are on the
distribution of boulders and glacial drift, the glacial
gravel on the side of Loch Long, and on the glaciation
of the rocks on the side of Loch Goil. Detention at
Greenock station was the occasion for exploration of a
railway-cutting through moraine matter. The shelving
shores of Largs afforded no clear section, but two miles
inland a grass-grown cliff was noted, and beyond Fairlie
a range of inland cliffs. The evidence at Ardrossan
was negative. Here Mr Herbert Spencer happened to
enter their railway -carriage, continuing his journey
southwards, while Professor and Mrs Prestwich alighted
at Ayr. With what infinite patience and thoroughness
the coast was explored on to Girvan and thence on to
Stranraer ! The quest for raised beaches was a sue-

JET. 66.] STRAXRAER TO CARLISLE. 291

cessful one, as shown from his numerous sections and
notes. A night spent at Stranraer enabled him to
examine the shores of Loch Ryan, well known from the
researches of the late J. Carrick Moore. " The best
sections are on the east side of the loch, which shows a
range of inland cliffs." Descrying one northward, they
drove back through the town, and a mile or two off the
Professor had the satisfaction of finding a fine section
with traces of two raised beaches.

In the same patient painstaking journey from Stran-
raer to Wigtown he was impressed by the evidence of
widespread glaciation, and that a great ice-sheet must
have covered and slid over this part of Galloway, leav-
ing the rocks polished and striated. The route to
Dumfries, from the high bleak rocky district down by
a gradual descent into a pastoral country, and thence
among rich corn-fields diversified by wood and stream,
was of much interest.

The Sunday at Carlisle was one of grateful rest, as
after morning service at the Cathedral rain interfered
with any walk until the evening, when it cleared, and
they were able from the bridge to have a view of the
grand sweep of the river and its banks.

During the driving tour of the previous year certain
pits near Loughborough had been unvisited, therefore
Prestwich had planned the homeward journey so as to
include the stay of a night there. Travelling by the
then new portion of the Midland line through a beauti-
ful hill country, he attributed the greenness of the
grass in the Yale of Eden to the soil of the New Red
Sandstone. Ingleborough Hill having been passed, and
also the village of Settle, he was able to point out the
position in the cliffs of the Victoria Cave, and after a
run of some miles they glided through the rnanufactur-

292 LOUGHBOROUGH. [1878.

ing districts of Leeds and Sheffield on to Nottingham.
Here an hour was agreeably spent in driving from
point to point, the most interesting of all being the
mass of New Red Sandstone on which the castle is
built.

Next morning he was off betimes to the brick-pits,
which were a mile or more from Loughborough, return-
ing at mid-day laden with bags of gravel and packets
of specimens, having come upon Drift. Through a
bricklayer he had heard of another gravel -pit, and
started off on a new quest, for which there was just
time before getting into the train for Oxford.

Already the country of Lochaber and the " Parallel
Roads " loomed like a beautiful vision in the dim dis-
tance. But this never-to-be-forgotten excursion was
followed at once by illness — the manifest result of over-
fatigue — of over -work. Happily he had reached his
home, where he had the best medical care and skill.

The following letter was addressed to his friend the
day after arrival in Oxford :—

J. Prestwich to J. Evans. OXFORD, 29th August 1878.

MY DEAR EVANS, — We have just returned from Scotland, hav-
ing visited Stirling, Glencoe, Ballachulish, Glen Spean, Glen Eoy,
Oban, Inverary, Largs, Ayr, Stranraer, and Wigtown, and stopt
last Tuesday on our way back at Loughborough, to look again at
the pits unvisited last year, and which interest me much in con-
nection with my old heresy — a diluvial theory, and a theory
which I think I shall now venture to revive before the Eoyal
Society, if they will listen to it. As soon as I get rid of a slight
attack of lumbago, which is on me to-day, we shall, I hope, go for
a few days to Paris. I suppose there is no chance of your being
there yet ?

Afterwards, if time allow, we shall return to S. Wales to look
again at the glacial and diluvial phenomena there.

JET. 66.] EASTBOURNE. 293

It proved to be an attack of sciatica in its acute
form, and Prestwich was compelled to instruct his wife
to write to Paris to explain his inability to be present
at any of the International Geological or Anthropo-
logical Congresses, as notice had been given of his
intention to be there. In the official reply which she
received from M. Gaudry, a member of the Institute,
occur these words, " Nous aurions ete heureux de voir
parmi nous Mr Prestwich, qui est un de nos maitres les
plus illustres."

His spirit was indomitable. Only two months had
elapsed since he had been struck down by illness at St
David's, and yet he had planned to return there this
same year to complete his unfinished work ! Early in
October he had, however, so far recovered that, con-
trary to the expectation of his two doctors, he was
able to go to Eastbourne for change. One day was
spent in taking stock of what interested him in the
Museum ; but his delight with return of health was
to be out of doors, and, the season being fine, his
time was devoted to drives (not without geologising)
along the familiar coast. As his observations were
made under (for him) luxurious conditions, this visit
to Mr and Mrs Russell Scott was inspiriting and health -
giving. Sections of Birling Gap cover several pages
of a note-book ; and as Mr Godwin- Austen chanced to
be at Eastbourne at the time, the two old friends were
able to go together to several sections.

J. Prestwich to J. Evans. OXFORD, 23rd October 1878.

MY DEAR EVANS, — I received the enclosed in London, but my
doctor here will not hear of my geologising at present. I have
written accordingly to M. Prarond asking how long the section

294 OLD ROCKS UNDER LONDON. [1878.

is to remain open, to send me a small sketch, and to purchase
a series of specimens.

If you, however, could run over, it would be still better.

I enclose you M. Prarond's pamphlet, which, please, return at
your leisure. There are also some discoveries making near Cam-
bridge which I should have liked to have seen, but cannot. I
had just begun my visit to Eastbourne when I met Austen. How
are Arthur 1 and his wife ? and have they started for their foreign
home ? My wife joins me in kind regards to Mrs Evans, and I
am sincerely yours, JOSEPH PEESTWICH.

J. Prestwich to E. A. C. Godwin- Austen.

OXFORD, 27th October 1878.

MY DEAR AUSTEN, — Your inquiry, which I had intended to
have answered from London, quite escaped me.

Your map hardly takes in the Kentish Town well. I have
marked its near whereabouts with an X. It is 3 miles N. of
Meux's well. I have several specimens of the Kentish Town
Old Eed at Shoreham, and a few here. Shall you be here and
see tljem, or shall I send them to you?

I do not attach much guidance to the 35° dip. The folds in
the strata may, as they do near Dinant and through the
Ardennes, bring in the same strata over and over again. It
is north of the great folds and disturbance of the Devonian
that the Carboniferous strata come in in Belgium and Northern
France, and I am inclined, therefore, to place them anywhere
N. of London. The Old Ked of K. T. corresponds with the Old
Eed of France and with some beds I have seen near Mons ; that
at Meux's, with beds I saw at Pernes, near Lillers.

On thinking over the section we saw at the gas - works, I
believe the grey clay under the Flint Drift and over the Gault
must belong to the base of Chalk or U. G-. S. [Upper Green-
sand], ... or the U. G. S. may be wanting.

I am, however, not satisfied, and must return to the first pit
we went to, where they are digging clay. I think the elephant,

1 Mr Arthur J. Evans, keeper of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford ;
author of 'Through Bosnia and the Herzegovina on Foot,3 'Illyrian
Letters,' &c.

JET. 66.] OLD ROCKS UNDER LONDON. 295

&c., remains occur in the Flint Drift — as they do at Eastbourne,
only there it is thicker. Still, I understand Dr Ward to say
they were 17 feet deep at the Victoria Inn. I was only sorry
our excursions were so short.

J. Prestwich to J. Evans. OXFORD, 29th November 1878.

MY DEAR EVANS, — I am very sorry I shall not be amongst you
to-morrow. I did not bear in mind when we formed an engage-
ment (a dinner-party at home) for to-morrow, that you and
Spottiswoode were the elected Grand Officers of the [Royal]
Society, or I should have tried to be present, although Saturday
is an awkward day — the Sunday trains being slow, few, and in-
convenient. I shall be thinking of you to-morrow. Please tell
Spottiswoode of my regret, and believe me to be ever sincerely
yours, J. PRESTWICH.

Rolleston gave us a paper on a Tenby Cave at the Ashmolean,
and I understand that Max Miiller will give a paper on
" Iron " - 1 suppose in relation to the Bronze Period — after
Christmas.

A paper published in the ' Journal of the Geological
Society' in 1878, touching on the range of the Palae-
ozoic rocks under London, was of general interest. Its
title is a long one : " On the Section of Messrs Meux
& Co.'s Artesian Well in the Tottenham Court Road,
with Notices of the Well at Crossness and of another at
Shoreham, Kent ; and on the Probable Range of the
Lower Greensand and Palaeozoic Rocks under London."

296

CHAPTEE X.

1878-1888.

PRESIDENT OF THE REUNION EXTRAORDINAIRE OF THE FRENCH

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY AT BOULOGNE TEXT-BOOK ON ' GEOLOGY '

PRESIDENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL GEOLOGICAL CONGRESS.

AMONG public questions in which Professor Prestwich
took a keen interest was the best locality for a deep
boring in the south of England, in order to ascertain
the trend of the Coal-Measures. The following letter
refers to this subject :—

J. Prestwich to R. A. G. Godwin- Austen.

21 PARK CRESCENT, 1st January 1879.

MY DEAR AUSTEN, — The fossils I give on the authority of
Etheridge. I felt they were not characteristic species of the
L. Greensand; but then, as the Upper Greensand and Gault
were both traversed, there remained only one other member of
the Cretaceous series to which such fossils could be referred.

With regard to the important question of another boring, of
which you speak, I hope and trust that not only one but that
several will be made. But this is a bad time for the attempt,
on account of the general financial depression, and because so
many coal-pits have been opened within the last three or four
years, that some hardly pay to work at the present price of
coal. I do not, however, know what Major Beaumont is doing.

JST. 67.] HYDRO-GEOLOGICAL MAP. 297

He was to see what could be done by some of the City people.
I hope to be at the next meeting of the Society, and will hear
what Karnsay and others say.

I, however, do not think with you that the line between
Meux's and Kentish Town is the best place for a trial. These
Devonian strata roll so much that I should give them a wide
berth. Kentish Town may be the central axis, and the coal
strata lie a few miles north of it. This new well of the New
Eiver Co. will throw some light on the subject. Mrs Prestwich
joins me in kind regards and best wishes for the New Year to
you and yours ; and I am, ever sincerely yours,

JOSEPH PRESTWICH.

A final effort was made for the publication of his
Water Maps, as shown in the annexed letter, but his
application was unsuccessful.

J. Prestwich to the Duke of Richmond and Gordon.

OXFORD, 6th May 1879.

MY LORD DUKE, — May I be allowed to recall to your re-
collection the circumstance of my having drawn up, at the wish
of the other members of the Water Commission, on which I had
the honour to serve under you, a hydro-geological map of the
Thames Basin for the purpose of showing the extent of the per-
meable and impermeable strata and the position of all the prin-
cipal springs. To these were added contour lines laid down by
the late Sir H. James to mark the height of the springs and of
the rivers in the different parts of their course. This map was
accompanied by a plate of sections showing the dimensions of
the underground reservoirs furnishing the springs, which, with
the direct flow of the rainfall from off the impermeable strata,
gives the total quantities of water available for the supply of
London and other towns in the Thames Basin.

The map and sections were engraved, and, as I understood, the
necessary number of copies was actually struck off, but owing to
some cause, of which I believe the cost of colouring was one,
they were never completed and put into circulation, with the

298 NATIONAL WATER-SUPPLY. [l879.

exception of the single copy furnished to each member of the
Commission, including, I presume, yourself.

As I am reminded by the action taken by the Society of Arts
at the instigation of H.K.H. the Prince of Wales last year, and
again about to be resumed this year, of the renewed interest in
the question of a national water-supply, I should feel it a very
great favour if you could obtain the sanction, on the part of the
Treasury or the Stationery Office, to the publication and issue of
this map and plate of sections. They were prepared with con-
siderable care, and would, I have reason to hope, be of some
public service in the inquiry now about to be instituted respect-
ing the supply of towns and villages generally, but more especi-
ally having reference to those in the Thames valley. Much of
the information they contain is not otherwise accessible, and it
seems a pity that, if an available stock of uncoloured copies
exists in the Stationery Office, it should not be utilised. I
should trust that the extra expense of colouring would be more
than covered by the sale to the public.

I have to apologise for troubling you upon a matter which would
have been of the past, but for the renewal of the inquiry above
alluded to, and the importance of which was so readily admitted
by Lord Beaconsfield when the subject was lately brought before
him. I beg to enclose a few of the papers issued by the Society
to show their line of inquiry; and I am, my Lord Duke, with
much respect, yours faithfully,

JOSEPH PptESTWicH,

Professor of Geology in the University of Oxford.

Although not published until 1880, his memoir "On
the Origin of the Parallel Roads of Lochaber and their
Bearing on other Phenomena of the Glacial Period "
was read before the Royal Society in 1879. The next
three letters refer to this paper.

J. Prestwich to J. Evans. OXFORD, 2nd May 1879.

MY DEAR EVANS, — I omitted to explain a rather important
point in your objections last night. You referred to the prob-
ability of winter-ice and snow throwing down debris into the

Ml. 67.] THE PARALLEL ROADS OF GLEN ROY. 299

wafer. This I quite admit in my paper, and refer the upper 2
to 3 feet of the road to this origin ; but that they were entirely
formed in this way is scarcely possible, because —

1. The talus was too temporary.

2. There is no wear.

3. No cliff talus.

4. ISTo difference in the slopes.

5. And the waved line of the roads is incompatible with

shore-origin in the first place.

How could a shore-line be 10 to 12 feet above the water-level
in one case, and 8 to 10 feet below it in another ? If a sub-
aerial talus caused the difference, the roads would suffer inter-
ruption in their level, which they don't. T must make this clear
in my paper. ... I am sincerely yours,

JOSEPH PRESTWICH.

J. Prestwich to the Same. OXFORD, 12th May 1879.

MY DEAR EVANS, — With regard to what you say in your last
note as to why the terraces may now be uneven —

1. If the rise in the land had not been uniform. Yes ; but all

the terraces would then have had the same curve, whereas
each terrace has its own curve.

2. If some parts of the shore had slipped. There are no traces

of this.

3. The difficulty of conceiving a slip on so large a scale. I see

no limit except the absence of similar favourable condi-
tions. So long as they obtain, so far would the terraces
extend. The more I think of it, the more inevitable does
the slip appear.

The whole mass of detritus being saturated, and being at
an angle greater than the angle of repose of the detritus in a
saturated condition, would at once slip when set in motion.
But the outflow of water gradually lessening, the fall would be
gradually checked.

Then again the detritus gradually left dry would, as it drained
by degrees, acquire a higher angle of repose owing to the circum-
stance of the water draining from it in innumerable rills. With
the loss of water the angle of repose would become greater. . . .

300 THE PARALLEL ROADS OF GLEN ROY. [l879.

This morning I by chance opened the vol. of Min. Proceed.
Inst. C. E., just received, vol. Iv. for 1878-79. In it, at p. 339
you will find a paper on " Slips in Clay Soils." ... A very close
approach to my theoretical diagram. I really see no other ex-
planation, and see only an inevitable consequence.

J. F. Campbell to J. Prestwich.

NIDDRY LODGE, KENSINGTON, LONDON, W., 7th May 1879.

MY DEAR PRESTWICH,:— Somebody once quoted St Paul to a
German, who said, " Oh yes, I know. He was a very clever man,
Paulus, but I do not agree with Paulus." I have the greatest
respect for your opinions as your former Secretary in the Coals
and otherwise, but I am hopelessly convinced that the Lochaber
roads are ancient sea margins.

Darwin was so convinced till somebody assured him that there
are no such beaches on the side of the watershed. There are,
as I have assured you, but you do not believe. I have a paper
from a man about British Columbia which goes in for American
submergence equal to the European submergence for which I
have gone in. But my last paper will probably be my last sent
to the Geological Society, and I shall die disagreeing with you,
an authority, and with pundits generally who go in for Glacial
periods. Thanks for the paper. Unless you ask for it I will
keep it with my own on the same subject. I am, yours very
truly, J. F. CAMPBELL.

The following note from Charles Darwin, although of
later date, is inserted here, being also on the subject of
the Lochaber Parallel Roads :—

C. Darwin to J. Prestwich.

DOWN, BECKENHAM, KENT, 3rd Jany. 1880.

MY DEAR PROF. PRESTWICH, — You are perfectly right. As
soon as I read Mr Jamieson's article on the Parallel Eoads I gave
up the ghost with more sighs and groans than on almost any
other occasion in my life. Believe me, yours very sincerely,

CHARLES DARWIN.

JET. 67.] TENBY. 301

Oxford term over, Prestwich, avoiding the gaieties
of Commemoration, set out again for St David's, his
wife (with great misgivings as to the effect of over-
fatigue) accompanying him. The first stage was
Newnham-on-Severn, the expedition from there being
to Garden Cliff — a classical spot where, although only
slight traces of Northern Drift could be seen on its
summit, the section was very fine, being New Red
Marl banded with sage-green layers. The fields on
the same level, or a little higher, showed Drift pebbles.
A portion of the drive to the Forest of Dean was
through rich apple and damson orchards.

Tenby and the choice geological specimens in its
Museum were of much interest. Wet and stormy
weather did not interfere with a visit to the caves
of Great and Little Hoyle, which Prestwich saw under
the guidance of Mr E. Laws — Black Rock quarry,
also near Tenby, and in which a fissure had yielded
mammalian remains, being explored at the same time.
He had intended to cross to Caldy Island to examine
the site where hippopotamus and other fossil bones
had been exhumed, but, to the relief of his companion,
the continuance of very rough weather and high seas
made this expedition impossible. It was only on being
assured that landing on Caldy Island could not be
effected that a visit to it was most unwillingly given up.
Good-bye was said to Mr Laws near Lamphey Station,
the travellers proceeding by Manorbeer and Pembroke
to Haverfordwest — thankful in a chilly evening to find
a close carriage waiting them from St David's.

Whitesand Bay first engaged Prestwich's attention,
and detailed sketches of it were made at different
points, including a general section which included the
Lingula Flags. On the way back to St David's he

302 ST DAVID'S. [1379.

had sight of a conglomerate of the Cambrian rocks in
position at Forth Seli, and again visited the Pebidian
and Dimetian quarries. Caerbuddy formed a separate
expedition on foot, where the grand massing of the
older rocks was very striking. The cliff -road back
was severe walking : walls had to be climbed when
they stood in the way, and the geologist on one
height found he had the best view by stepping along
the top of a stone dyke, his companion following at
his heels. A walk from Caerfai, another beautiful
rocky inlet, was accomplished with difficulty across
fields and stiles to the Nuns' Chapel and the Nuns'
Well, situated in the most picturesquely wild and
secluded position near the rugged shore. The mag-
nificent coast scenery of St David's more than com-
pensated for its bleak and treeless inland district.
Near the entrance to Forth Clais harbour the Pro-
fessor, much to his satisfaction, traced a raised beach
which farther westward became thicker. It overhung a
cliff where the dark rocks looked awfully grand, several
of them with edges upturned like so many knives.

With every energy intent on his science, he still
found time at St David's for inspection of the cathedral.
Planted on low ground, or rather in a hollow, its site
confirmed the idea of having been chosen as a safe-
guard from the raids of the wild sea-rovers, as from
its position it might escape their notice. A cathedral
service was always a delight, and at St David's, as
elsewhere, he was not absent from morning service.
A close inspection of the venerable building and its
exquisite Norman clerestory was reserved for next
morning, when, with the appreciation of an artist, he
again lingered over the beautiful ruins of the bishop's
palace.

JET. 67.] NARBERTH. 303

Taking leave of the kind hostess of the City Hotel,
they set out for Fishguard, making two or three hours'
stay at Abereiddy Bay in order to see its slate quarries.
The blackness of its beach was most curious, it being
composed of fragments of black slate, this tint being
probably due, our geologist supposed, to the mass of
decomposed organic matter from the myriads of grap-
tolites. The turned-back edges or " terminal curva-
ture " of the slate rocks, and their fractures and crump-
ling, interested him greatly.

Good wick and Dinas Bays were diligently explored,
and, after a night at Newport, the Precelly Hills were
crossed, the two tourists proceeding to Narberth, one
of them thankful to have reached the region of rail-
ways without misadventure.

The following extract from a note-book describes his
visit to Gilfach quarries :—

25th June 1879. — From Narberth drove out to Gilfach and
called on Mr Shields, who showed me the quarries whence the
trilobites in the Tenby Museum came. It is at the foot of the
hill, near the brook in the N.-E. corner of his grounds. It is
a very remarkable section. The strata are vertical, and thin
seams of limestone alternate with slate, the limestone being more
or less decomposed into a brown earth with stony fragments and
fossils. The edges of the strata look like upright rafters worn
and soiled at the edges, and the section has all the regularity
of a wooden paling. The surfaces of the strata are at right
angles to this, and show on their surface an extraordinary pro-
fusion of trilobites (AsapJms tyrannus of large size and others),
most of them quite perfect and not at all distorted.

J. Prestwich to J. Evans. SHOREHAM, 15th August 1879.

MY DEAR EVANS, — ... I have not been up to town since our
return, but expect to be there next week, lumbago (of which I
have a slight attack) permitting. I had a visit from De Koninck

304 FLINT IMPLEMENTS. [l879.

a short time since, but beyond that I have seen none of niy geo-
logical friends. We have, however, had a house full of the Scott
children, who have just left us.

Should you see Daubree, Hebert, or other of our French
friends at Sheffield, please tell them how happy I should be to
see them here. . . . — Ever sincerely yours, J. PRESTWICH.

Soon after his return home, it is significant that
Dr Owen Rees summarily forbade all work, and pre-
scribed novels to be- the only reading until the middle
of October. Perhaps it was in conformity with this
advice that a visit was paid to Paris in September.
Professor and Mrs Prestwich had only been there a
few days when they were recalled by the illness of
Mr Charles Falconer.

The following letter has reference to this and to the
discovery of palaeolithic flint implements in the neigh-
bourhood of Ightham, Kent.

J. Prestwich to J. Evans. SHOREHAM, near SEVENOAKS, 10th Oct. 1879.

MY DEAR EVANS, — I am happy to say that Mr Falconer is
somewhat better. "We have therefore returned to Shoreham pre-
paratory to packing up for Oxford. My wife, however, will go
up to town every other day, and is yet unwilling to make any
engagement. If, however, you will have me by myself, I would
run down some day between (including) Wednesday the 23rd
and Monday the 27th inst. My lectures begin on the 28th.

Weather permitting, I should like also to give a couple of days
to Fisher's pit at Barrington and Skertchly's pits at Brandon, if
that time would suit you. Is there any chance of our seeing
you here ? A Mr Harrison at Ightham has been doing some
good work, and has collected numerous flint implements and one
British gold coin. I am thinking of going over to see him next
week. — Ever sincerely yours, J. PRESTWICH.

The illness of Charles Falconer, the best and kind-
est of relatives, was not a protracted one. He lingered

^ET. 67.] COLLEGES FOB WOMEN. 305

on for a time, but passed away before the close of the
year.

To turn to the life at Oxford. Prestwich's appoint-
ment had been at a fortunate time, when science was
no longer looked upon with disfavour, when the heav-
ings and heartburnings of the Tractarian movement
had died away or quieted down, and when — perhaps to
his own surprise — the great-souled Benjamin Jowett
reigned at Balliol. Among movements indicative of
broader views and a widened outlook was the estab-
lishment in the two old Universities of Halls of Resi-
dence or Colleges for Women. Cambridge had led the
way with " Girton " and " Newnham," Oxford follow-
ing later in 1879 (amid misgivings at such an innova-
tion) with the foundation of " Lady Margaret Hall,"
which was almost immediately succeeded by that of
" Somerville Hall." The result of the admirable
management and irreproachable conduct of the women-
students at Oxford has been, that passive resistance
has gradually been withdrawn, and a generous appreci-
ation is felt to have taken its place. From small
beginnings these two Halls have become a signal suc-
cess, while one or two others on a smaller scale have
been found to supply an acknowledged want. It was
only natural that Prestwich's sympathies should go out
to " Somerville Hall," now " Somerville College," whose
doors from the beginning had been thrown wide open
to bid welcome among others to women students of
varied race and creed, who, like their English sisters,
hungered for the bread of knowledge.

Easter fell early, and a trip to the south coast was
organised by Professor Prestwich, on which he was
accompanied by Mr John Evans, Mr Warington
Smyth, and Professor T. M'Kenny Hughes. But, alas !

u

306 IGUANODON. [1880.

no sooner had they reached Christchurch than he was
overtaken by illness. His friend Evans took him back
to town in an invalid carriage, where at Park Crescent
he was nursed with devoted care by his sisters-in-law,
until able at Oxford to rejoin his wife, who had been
detained there by her own illness.

J. Prestwich to J. Evans. OXFORD, 27th April.

MY DEA.R EVANS, — Dr Acland has put a stop to my going to
town this week, so, much to my regret, I shall miss both the
Geological] meeting and the Eoyal Society Soiree. Please express
my regrets to Spottiswoode at my absence from the latter. . . .
I am sorry also to miss Hulke's paper and the Council. ... I
am very glad to see that Dr Eae is amongst the chosen 15.1 . . .

A more detailed account of the position of the strata
in which a new species of Iguanodon had been discov-
ered in a brick-pit in the Kimmeridge Clay at Cum-
nor Hurst, near Oxford, and named by Mr Hulke,
Iguanodon Prestwchii, was read in April to the
Geological Society. In May of the previous year
Prestwich had sent a brief announcement of this dis-
covery, with " Notice also of a very Fossiliferous Band
of the Shotover Sands," to the c Geological Magazine.'

Early in May the death of his brother-in-law, Mr
Russell Scott, was a real sorrow. In a letter to a fre-
quent correspondent he expresses a deep sense of his
loss, and that Russell Scott " was one of the best and
kindest of husbands and of friends." He was the last
of his three brothers-in-law, who had all shown him
sincere affection, the close intimacy with Mr Russell
Scott having endured almost half a century. It has
often occurred to us that much of that happiness in the

1 Fifteen names of candidates selected for election into the Eoyal Society.

JET. 68.] DARENT-HULME. 30*7

circle of near relatives was due to our geologist's
perfect regard for the feelings of others. He always
testified respect for any one who acted up to his or her
convictions, inculcating by his example the practice of
that perfect "law of liberty." For instance, the Prest-
wich family belonged to the Church of England, to
which he was strongly attached, yet the fact that one
sister became a Unitarian and another a Roman
Catholic never weakened the lifelong warm fraternal
affection.

No summer passed without some members of the
family staying at Darent-Hulme, and one of his great-
est pleasures was having the little Russell Scotts.
Among letters of this date we come upon a note to the
eldest, then a little girl : —

To Ms grand-niece, Isabella Prestwich Scott. OXFORD, 26th May 1880.

MY DEAR LITTLE ISABEL, — Had you known your great-grand-
mamma Prestwich, I am sure you would have loved her very
much, for she was very good and kind to everybody, and she
would, I am sure, have been very fond of you, because you are
a very good little girl. When your great-grandmamma was
young she had a very pretty Geneva watch, and I do not think
I can do better than to give you this watch in remembrance of
her, and for the love of your affecte. uncle,

JOSEPH PRESTWICH.

A visit at his country home from geological friends
was ever looked forward to with eagerness. He de-
lighted in their society, and at the end of each Long
Vacation it was a frequent theme of regret that there
had not been time to invite and welcome many wished-
for guests. Those summer days seemed to pass like a
flash. He often remarked that the glimpses of Professor
and Mrs Judd, of the Rev. Professor and Mrs Wiltshire^

308 CHANNEL ISLANDS. [l880.

and of numerous other friends, were all too rare. The
fact of Professor and Mrs H. G. Seeley being for several
years at Sevenoaks, and thus within easy reach, was
a great pleasure. Now and then American friends
came, and had a warm welcome. The lamented Pro-
fessor Asa Gray and Mrs Gray paid a short visit,
when Dr and Mrs Carpenter were the guests to meet
them. On another occasion Professor and Mrs Joseph
Le Conte, who were strangers, stayed a night, when,
as was remarked to our Professor, it was a case of
entertaining angels unawares. He kept up a corre-
spondence with the late Professor J. D. Dana ; in
short, he had many honoured friends in America.

Short excursions were made during the summer of
1880 within easy distance from Darent-Hulme : one
trip being with Mr Spurrell to pits at Crayford ; an-
other, to Brasted and to railway cuttings close to
Combe Bank, the residence of his friend Mr William
Spottiswoode. But he was intent on amassing further
evidence in support of his theory of a widespread sub-
mergence, and for that purpose set out early in August
on a tour in the Channel Islands, accompanied by his
wife and her youngest sister. A day or two at Lyme
Regis enabled him to acquire the fine collection of
Lias fossils, presented by Mrs Philpot to the Oxford
Museum ; and as Mr Etheridge chanced to be at the
same hotel, the old friends had a pleasant time
together.

Perhaps no geology was more carefully worked out
by Prestwich than that of Guernsey and Jersey. Day
by day the circuit of the coast of Guernsey was fol-
lowed, the search for raised beaches being continued
next morning from the point arrived at on the previous
evening. The northern half of the island was first

Photo by A. IV. Co.r, Nottingham.

ROBERT ETHERIDGE, F.R.S.

JET. 68.] ISLE OF WIGHT. 309

taken. Owing to a storm of wind and rain, an attempt
to drive across at low tide to Lihou Island was un-
successful. Prestwich, however, utilised the time by
sketching a roadside quarry inland, when the driver
did his best to hold an umbrella over him. After one
wild gust the umbrella continued to shake in a very
odd manner, when the occupants of the carriage saw
that the driver was so much overcome by suppressed
laughter that he could not hold it steadily. The
enthusiasm that impelled the tall elderly gentleman
to stand in a gale of wind and rain, drawing the rocks
as if his life depended on it, must have been a puzzle.
The visit to Lihou was eventually made, the raised
beach on its sea - front, and not its manufactory of
iodine, being the attraction.

The precipitous character of much of the Jersey coast
prevented the same unbroken line of research round it.
Wherever possible, a careful examination was made
coastwise and inland ; and evidences of raised beaches
at different levels were in sufficient number to reward
the explorer.

After a night at Avranches and one at Coutances,
the coast round Cherbourg on to near Cape la Hague
was the subject of the same quest.

The next halting-place was the familiar ground of
Alum Bay, which, it might be supposed, Prestwich
knew pretty well by heart, yet along coasts made up
of such soft strata changes are constantly in progress,
and eight pages of his note-book give new sections of
Headon Hill, and also of Totlands and of Col well Bays.
The drive along the coast was by the little-used mili-
tary road from Freshwater to Black Gang Chine, his
interest centring in that well-known spot, classical to
geologists — Brook Bay. As a matter of course, sections

310 BRITISH ASSOCIATION. [l880.

were sketched of it and of Brook Cliff, likewise of Brix-
ton Cliff.

The annexed letter explains in his own words the
object of his journey to the Channel Islands : —

J. Prestwich to J. Evans. SHOREHAM, SEVENOAKS, 24eA August 1880.

MY DEAR EVANS, — . . . We returned from the Channel
Islands and France on 'Saturday night last, all the better for
our trip, and with evidence which satisfies me with respect to
the diluvial origin of a portion of the Drift which I have so
long suspected, but hesitated to bring forward without the fur-
ther proof I went to the Channel Islands to obtain. I have now
no longer any doubt about it ; and, as I should much like to have
a discussion of the subject on the occasion of Eamsay's being
President, British Association, I have written to Sorby (not
knowing who the Secretaries are) to ask whether I am too late,
and offering to have a paper and sections ready by Monday if
they can give me room on that day. I think I shall be able to
show that a deluge spread over part of England and much (if
not all) Europe in late Quaternary times, and that it destroyed
palaeolithic man (in part). It approaches, in fact, singularly
near to the tradition of the Noachian deluge. This is between
ourselves.

Not expecting to go to Swansea, I have kept none of the
papers giving particulars of sections, &c. Could you kindly
send me any such lists to-morrow ? I fear, from what you say,
that you will have left Swansea before we arrive on Saturday.
I would have gone to-day, but have my paper and sections to
get ready, and we are a little done up by a somewhat rapid
journey. . . . You have a delightful journey before you in
Spain and south of France. — Hoping that you and Mrs Evans
will enjoy it much, and with our united kind regards, I am,
sincerely yours, JOSEPH PRESTWICH.

The main paper I reserve for the Eoyal Society. I shall now
merely give the chief results, so as to obtain a discussion of the
subject.

JET. 68.] SWANSEA. 311

Another letter of the same date with the same in-
formation gives, however, a glimpse of his home life : —

J. Prestwich to I. C. Scott. SHOREHAM, 24ZA Aug. 1880.

DEAREST ISABELLA, — We returned here on Saturday night
last, after a very pleasant and successful trip to the Channel
Islands and Normandy. Here we intended to remain till the
October term ; but having obtained in the Channel Islands the
evidence I required respecting my diluvial theory, we are going
to Swansea to bring it before the Brit. Assoc., of which my old
friend Eamsay is Pres. this year. I think I am now in a posi-
tion to show that the south of England, France, and probably
the greater part of Europe, have been submerged during the
early human period, and that palaeolithic man was thereby
destroyed (in great part). It revives in a curious way the
tradition of the Noachian deluge. I have long had cause to
suspect this, but hesitated even to mention so unexpected a
result until I was sure of the facts I obtained in the Channel
Islands. After my return from Swansea I may possibly go to
the meeting of the Geol. Soc. of France at Boulogne. There is
one thing I regret in all this, which is, it postpones the arrival
of the many visitors we looked forward to in Aug. and Septr. I
suppose Eussell and Jessie are back — where are they now ? Are
they all well and you too ? I shall look forward to see you and
them about the middle of Septr. I the more hope this as I fear
we shall hardly be able to visit Eastbourne. Grace sends her
best love to all, and I am, dearest Isabella, your affect, brother,

JOSEPH PKESTWICH.

Professor and Mrs Prestwich with Louisa Milne
reached Swansea in the middle of the meeting
of the British Association, and were the guests
of Sir Hussey l and Lady Vivian. Our geologist read
two papers in Section C, both very brief, both raising
new questions and pointing to important conclusions in
support of his Submergence theory. The first was

1 Afterwards Lord Vivian.

312 ASHMOLEAN SOCIETY. [1880-81.

" On a Raised Beach in Rhos Sili Bay, Gower " ; the
second was entitled, " On the Geological Evidence of
the Temporary Submergence of the South-west of
Europe during the early Human Period."

September was chiefly spent at Boulogne-sur-Mer,
where the French Geological Society held a Reunion
extraordinaire. On Prestwich's arrival he was paid
the honour of being elected President for the occasion
by his French brethren, and with pleasure he filled the
chair at their meetings and took part in several ex-
cursions. He himself at the sitting of the 13th Sept.
communicated a paper " Sur la Plage Soulevee de
Sangatte," which was published in the ' Bulletin Soc.
Geol. de France ' for that year.

Pleasant visits were paid in October, one being to
Mr and Mrs Godwin-Austen at Shalford, and as usual
a day or two at Nash Mills on the way to Oxford.
The work of the term — lectures and Museum collec-
tions— proceeded as usual, but the illness at Easter
had left its effects, and exposure to cold had to be
avoided. Our geologist happened to be President of
the Ashmolean Society ; and, as it devolved on him to
take the chair at its evening meetings, the following
note was dictated by the most thoughtful kindness.
It was from Dr Rolleston just before he went abroad
on account of failing health, and the presiding at the
' Ashmolean ' on behalf of his friend was almost his
last appearance in public. He returned to Oxford in
the summer, just in time to die in his own home.

G. Rolleston to J. PrestwicJl. OXFORD, 202A November 1880.

MY DEAR PRESTWICH, — ... I entreat you not to come out
on Monday night unless Acland explicitly encourages you to do
so. I will bring —

JET. 68-69.] GEORGE ROLLESTON. 313

1. A skeleton of Iguana ;

2. Marsh's big book on Tooth-bearing Birds ;

and will talk as much or as little as the occasion may demand.
Yours very truly, GEORGE BOLLESTON.

P.S. — It is the boar's head dinner at Merton to-day, but there
are bores enough outside that college, so I don't ask you to go
there.

A note to Mr Harrison urges a search for fossil bones
as well as for implements.

J. Prestwich to B. Harrison. OXFOED, 9th Feb. 1881.

DEAR SIR, — ... I am glad to hear of your further finds, and
to learn that you have been more successful than I was two
or three years ago in finding flint implements in the high-level
Gravel. The cutting we examined was the one at the station.
We had not, however, much time to give to the search. The
position is very analogous to the flint-bearing high-level Gravel at
Salisbury, and bears some analogy to the Eeculver Gravels. In
neither of these places have bones been found. You will of
course, however, look out for them as well as for implements
when the new cuttings are made. I hope to be at Shoreham in
the summer ; and I am, yours truly, JOSEPH PRESTWICH.

Prestwich was deeply affected by the intelligence of
the death of Dr Rolleston, which followed him a few
days after arrival at Darent-Hulme. In writing to Mr
Colchester on the 21st June, he observed, "The death
of poor Rolleston has indeed been a blow and shock to
us all. He was the ornament and power of the
University on its science side. I have known very few
men who were his equal."

Sir John Lubbock being President of the British
Association at York in 1881, Professor Prestwich made

314 GEOLOGICAL PAPERS. [1881.

a point of being present at the meeting, when he
contributed three Papers — namely : " Some Observa-
tions on the Causes of Volcanic Action ; " " On the
Strata between the Chillesford Beds and the Lower
Boulder Clay : The Mundesley and Westleton Beds ; "
and, "On the Extension into Essex, Middlesex, and
other Inland Counties of the Mundesley and Westle-
ton Beds, in Relation to the Age of certain Hill
Gravels and of some of the Valleys of the South of
England."

The hotel at York in which Prestwich and his wife
stayed held several friends besides Mr and Mrs Evans,
so that the meeting was remembered as one of much
social enjoyment.

J. Prestwich to J. Evans. SHOEEHAM, 22nd September 1881.

MY DEAR EVANS, — I went after all to Suffolk on Tuesday,
calling at Harlton for Fisher. Thanks for your maps which I
found there. It is well you did not come, for we had a very
wet day. We saw, however, Culford brick pit and Warren Hill.
I returned last night none the worse for the trip. We found
nothing except a flake on Warren Hill. I am glad, however, to
see the position of things at Culford, and I think it is a case for
further inquiry. The Spottiswoodes dine with us to-morrow,
and possibly Lubbock. . . .

In the Chronicle of St Edward's School, Summer-
town, Oxford, a letter to the Warden from Professor
Prestwich, dated 12th December, was inserted, giving
an account of the section exposed in digging the
foundations for the new buildings through the old
river gravel. The interest of this section was the
discovery in it of the bivalve shell Cyrena (or Corbi-
cula) fluminalis, now extinct in Europe, and which is
only found in the Nile and in some rivers of Central

JET. 69.] GEOLOGICAL PAPERS. 315

Asia. It was the most abundant shell in the St
Edward's section, of all sizes, and double, proving that
it lived and flourished here at the period in question.
A specimen of it had previously been discovered by
Mr K H. Tiddeman, F.G.S., of the Geological Survey,
who found it " when an undergraduate in some gravel
close to and not far above the level of the Cherwell on
the left bank."

To the February number of the ' Geological Maga-
zine ' for the following year, a notice of the occurrence
of the Cyrena fluminalis in the Upper Thames Valley
was communicated by Prestwich. In short, his pen
was never idle : it was busiest when he was pre-
cluded from joining in, or remaining out, on long
geological excursions. He wrote a small but very
complete Index Guide to the Geological Collections
in the Oxford University Museum, which was published
by the Clarendon Press in 1881.

After repeated visits to Upton and Chilton he read
a paper to the Geological Society in May, " On a
peculiar Bed of Angular Drift on the Lower - chalk
high Plain between Upton and Chilton." This deposit
was of special interest, and several members of his
class were introduced to it.

As years stole on the love of our geologist for little
children, and his delight in their innocent prattle, did
not lessen. His appearance among them was the
signal for a rush, when, with one consent, they all took
possession of him. If a shy little girl choked back her
sobs on being led into the room among strangers,
smiles took the place of tears when the master of the
house held out his arms to her. About this date one
of the little Russell Scotts — not two years old — had
stayed on at Darent-Hulme with her nurse, who, one

316 BRITISH ASSOCIATION. [1882-83.

day, just as dinner was over, sent down a message to
say that the child was exceedingly naughty and would
not go to sleep, crying herself almost into fits for her
" Uncle Jovis." The moment he entered the room the
sobbing ceased ; and sitting down beside her, he held
the little hand in his, until in a few minutes she fell
fast asleep.

There was another gathering of friends at the South-
ampton meeting of the British Association in 1882,
when Mr (Sir) W. Siemens, for whom Prestwich had a
great regard, filled the post of President. Joint
rooms were shared with Mr and Mrs Evans ; but, alas !
this pleasant time has its sad memories. The brightest
of the party was Mr Evans's talented and beloved
daughter Alice, and Mr William Minet, whose wife
she was soon to become, was one of the number. His
happiness was short-lived. Alice Minet — Alice with
the beautiful mind — is enshrined in the memory of
those who loved her. She had been a special favourite
with the Professsor from her childhood — or rather, it
should be said, from her infancy.

Two papers were read by Prestwich at Southamp-
ton,— the first, " On Drift Phenomena of Hampshire :
1. Boulders, Hayling Island. 2. Chert debris in the
Hampshire Gravel. 3. Elephant Bed, Freshwater
Gate." The second was also an important memoir,
being "On the Equivalents in England of the Sables de
Bracheux, and on the Southern Limits of the Thanet
Sands."

J. Prestwich to B. Harrison. SHOREHAM, 6th Oct. [1882].

SIR, — I am much obliged to you for the offer of the flint imple-
ments from Hadlow, which I should value as having foreseen the
probability of the discovery. Should you go there again or

,ET. 70-71.] HENRY SMITH AND SPOTTISWOODE. 317

obtain permission to dig the Gravel, you will be most likely to
find both flint implements and mammalian remains at or near
the base of the Gravel.

An event occurred early in the following year that
affected him deeply, and which threw all Oxford into
mourning. This was the death of Professor Henry
Smith, one of the first mathematicians of his time, who
in debate swayed the destinies of the University, and
was to so many the beloved friend. His sister, Eleanor
E. Smith, who was considerably his senior, shared his
home and watched over him in his last illness. She was
quite as remarkable among women as " Henry Smith "
was among his fellow-men. With masculine powers of
mind she had great tenderness of heart, and was the
guiding spirit of almost all the large charities in the
place. Both brother and sister possessed a delightful
touch of Irish humour, with not a little originality. It
was a privilege to count them both as dear friends.

J. Prestwich to J. Evans. OXFORD, January 1883.

MY DEAK EVANS, — We are all dreadfully upset here. We
have lost our dear and valued friend Henry Smith. Our party
to-morrow is consequently postponed. . . . The loss will throw a
gloom over the place. I hope your visit will be postponed, and
that we may have the pleasure of receiving you and Mrs Evans
as we could wish. . . .

The same year Professor Prestwich sustained an-
other great loss. Mr William Spottiswoode, who had
so recently filled the office of President of the Royal
Society, succumbed after a rather lingering illness.
He and Mrs Spottiswoode were the kindest of neigh-
bours, and the blank caused by his death has never

318 HUXLEY. [1884.

been filled. Among the interesting guests whom Mr
Spottiswoode delighted to gather round him at Combe
Bank, none seemed equal to the host himself. In the
touching tribute to his memory by Professor Huxley,
in a Notice to the Royal Society, no words were ever
more appropriate : " He always seemed to me the
embodiment of that exquisite ideal of a true gentle-
man which Geoffrey Chaucer drew five hundred years
ago:—

" ' . . . He lovede chyvalrye,

Trouthe and honour, fredom and curtesie.

And though that he was worthy he was wys,

And of his port as meke as is a mayde.

He never yit no vilonye ne sayde

In al his lyf unto no maner wight.

He was a verray perfight gentil knight.' "

In the mournful assemblage round his grave in West-
minster Abbey, none were more conscious of the loss
to the world of science, and of their own personal loss,
than the two sorrowing neighbours from Darent-Hulme.

Among relics carefully kept, we come upon a little
pencil note which had been passed on to our geologist
from Professor Huxley at his first council meeting as
President of the Royal Society, with the words — " I
have just nominated you a Vice-President. Will you
be so kind as to serve ? " An affirmative nod was the
reply.

Prestwich had for many years entertained the idea
of publishing a treatise on Geology, and at last his
dream was about to be realised, as in February 1884
he signed an agreement with the Clarendon Press, in
which he engaged to write a text-book on Geology in
two volumes. This was undertaken at a fitting time :
there had been many warnings that the burden of

JET. 72.] JULES MARCOU. 319

years would no longer allow him to share with his
fellow-geologists in active field-work ; he had the ex-
perience of a long life, and the mass of unpublished
material was overwhelming. With the prospect of
speedy publication, he at once wrote to his friend of
many years, the late Professor Jules Marcou of Cam-
bridge, Mass.,1 for permission to make use of his map
of the world.

OXFORD, 15th February 1884.

MY DEAE M. MARCOU, — Many thanks for the several Science
papers, [by] yourself and your son, that you have sent me, and
especially for your paper on the geology of California, recently
read. This paper interests me much, both with reference to
your account of the Glacial and Quaternary deposits, and with
reference to what you say about the age of the granite of the
Sierra Nevada. I was under the impression that the Jurassic
age of that granite had been well established, as it has been
generally received, but I see you give good reasons for ques-
tioning the conclusions. In fact, in writing on that subject a
short time since for a sort of text- book on Geology I have had
in hand for a long time past, I accepted the conclusion, and have
reasoned accordingly. This I must modify. In this work I also
am giving a small geological map of the world, reduced from
your large map, with a few additions, and proper acknowledg-
ment to you. As I shall be shortly putting it into the hands
of the artist, I should be very glad to know if you are bringing
out another edition, or if you have made any additions to that
capital piece of work that I could, with your permission, avail
myself of. I hope to have the pleasure of sending you a copy
of the first vol. of my work about the end of this year. I
get on but slowly, as I have to contend carefully against the
extreme Uniformitarian views which prevail in this country.
I trust you keep well. Mrs Prestwich desires her kind regards,
and I am, my dear Marcou, sincerely yours,

JOSEPH PEESTWICH.

Jules Marcou, born 1824 ; died April 18, 1898.

320 WATER-SUPPLY OF OXFORD. [l884.

To the Same. OXFORD, tth April 1884.

MY DEAR M. MAKCOU, — I am very much obliged to you for
your kind offer to assist in the preparation of the reduction of
your map of the world. I shall value such assistance very highly.
Owing to the illness of Professor Bartholomew Price1 of the
Clarendon Press, I have not been able yet to put it in hand,
but hope to do so shortly. I shall follow as close as possible
your grouping, but, with respect to colours, I think it will be
better to conform as far as possible with the colours proposed
by the International Congress. I also have another work in
hand for the Eoyal Society — viz., a list of all the underground
temperature observations from 1740 to this date, with their
systematic arrangement and reduction. I am nearly at the end
of it, but it has given me a good deal to do. This is preliminary
to a paper on " Volcanic Action," of which I think I sent you a
short abstract a year or two ago. I am very glad also to hear
that you continue so well occupied, and have on hand a work on
the important subject of the Primordial rocks. But, above all, I
hope to see another edition of your large map.

I sincerely trust that the illness in your family, mentioned in
your last note, may not be prolonged, and that Mme. Marcou
and your son may soon be restored to health. And with our
united kind regards, I am sincerely yours,

JOSEPH PRESTWICH.

His advice in regard to water - supply had al-
ready been acted upon with benefit to Oxford, and
the only publication traceable from his pen during this
year is a ' Letter on the Water- Supply ' to the Vice-
Chancellor, in the form of a pamphlet of twelve pages.
In this is pointed out the steps to be taken for a
supply safe from contamination, — three springs being
indicated as the best for drinking purposes, which,
with the growing needs of the University, it might be

1 The Rev. Bartholomew Price, Sedleian Professor of Natural Philo-
sophy ; subsequently Master of Pembroke College, Oxford ; born in 1818,
died December 29, 1898.

JST. 72.] J. GWYN JEFFREYS. 321

desirable to utilise in the future. One of these was
the spring at the foot of the chalk hills between East
Hendred and Wantage, which was not likely to pass
out of the remembrance of those who had shared in a
particular class excursion.

The following note to his friend John Evans refers
to a tour in France : —

DARENT-HULME, 2nd September.

My thoughts were much with you last week, and greatly did
I regret I could not be present in person. A few years since
I should never have hesitated to draw 10 days on time. But
since I have turned 70 I awake to its value and importance,
and until I have finished the work I have had so many years
in hand I feel reluctant to turn aside, however tempting the
occasion may be. ...

As years glided on, rarely one passed, alas ! which
was unmarked by the loss of a friend. In a letter,
dated January 1885, addressed to Mr Evans, Prest-
wich records the death of Mr J. Gwyn Jeffreys, the
conchologist, who had been his companion in geological
excursions, and with whom he had so many interests
in common. " The death of our dear old friend Jeffreys
was a great shock to us. How dreadfully sudden it
was ! We called on Sunday, but too late to see him."
Only on the previous Friday evening Mr Gwyn Jeffreys
had listened to a lecture at the Royal Institution by
his distinguished son-in-law, the late Professor Moseley.

Hilary term in 1885 was heavily weighted. In ad-
dition to the regular work, there was the steady pre-
paration of ' Geology/ and no fewer than three papers
in hand for the Royal Society. One of these, which
represented a vast amount of research, was sent in on
the 24th January. Its title was, " On Underground

322 THE INSTITUTE OF FRANCE. [l885.

Temperatures, with Observations on the Conductivity
of Hocks, on the Thermal Effects of Saturation and
Imbibition, and on a Special Source of Heat in Moun-
tain Ranges." Two days later Joseph Prestwich re-
ceived telegrams from Paris from two members of the
Institute (M. Albert Gaudry being one) to inform him
of his election into the Academy of Sciences as a Cor-
responding Member in the Section of Mineralogy. Not
one of the many honours which he received was more
prized, or gave greater pleasure than this. This pleas-
ure was shared by his friends, and among the con-
gratulatory notes, that from the late Dr W. B. Car-
penter, F.R.S., may be cited : —

LONDON, 3rd February 1885.

MY DEAR PRESTWICH, — Pray accept the hearty congratulations
of Mrs Carpenter and myself on your election as Corresponding
Member of the Institute of France, — an honour which you have
nobly earned by your long and distinguished services to geo-
logical science. It is a great pleasure to me to see so many of
my old and valued friends receiving — in one way or another —
that recognition of life-long labours which carries the sense of
their value to many who were previously unaware of it. And
this becomes the more gratifying when — as has been pre-
eminently the case with yourself — the work has been purely
for its own sake, without the least regard to personal interest
or public applause. May you long continue to set so good
an example to the generation that is now rising into our places.

I was very sorry to miss seeing you when you were last in
town. I had a great many committees and other engagements ;
and, hoping to meet you at the Royal Society, I did not take any
special step to find you. — With kindest regards to Mrs Prest-
wich, believe me, always yours faithfully,

WILLM. B. CARPENTER.

Another letter to the Vice - Chancellor, " On the
Oxford Water -Supply," was published in February:

JET. 73.] ORIGIN OF FLINTS. 323

it gave the chemical analyses of the various samples
of river and other waters by leading analysts. His
investigations had been again of use to the University.
The next memoir, sent to the Hoyal Society in the
end of March, was " On the Agency of Water in
Volcanic Eruptions, with some Observations on the
Thickness of the Earth's Crust from a Geological Point
of View, and on the Primary Cause of Volcanic
Action." This was published in 1886. The hypothesis
put forward was an interesting one to geologists.

A stay at Weston-super-Mare early in April was
refreshing — its main purpose being the acquisition of
material, in the study of raised beaches, for his pro-
jected Submergence paper. But the weather after a
fortnight became unseasonably cold, and the sojourn
there was not prolonged.

The origin or segregation of flint was a subject to
which he gave much thought ; but the experiments
which he was carrying on in the Oxford Museum, in
a series of jars of fresh and of sea water, were extended
over too short a term of years to yield definite or
satisfactory results. These experiments were begun
in 1882, with pure precipitated chalk dissolved in
dilute hydrochloric acid, and the results are recorded
at intervals in a book in his handwriting. Pieces of
sponge, or small cup-sponges, empty shells and frag-
ments of wood, &c., had been added to the contents
of the jars, half of which contained sea - water, the
other half fresh-water. An entry dated 24th June
1884 registers "Sponge rendered brittle- — requires ex-
amination for silica." In the same MS. book of notes
we find a series of experiments registered on " Ayles-
ford sand with Woolwich flint pebble moistened with
a solution of soluble silica."

324 PLATEAU IMPLEMENTS. [1885.

J. PrestwicJl to J. Evans. WESTON-SUPER-MARE, 9«A April 1885.

I have sent in my Volcano paper to the Eoyal Society. It
has been a heavy piece of work, having been in hand some time
before the York meeting; but I did not care to finish it until
I had completed my paper on Underground Temperatures, so as
to have a surer rate of increase of temperature with depth. . . .
I could be up at its reading any day this month, but the 16th or
the 23rd would suit me best. . . .

The third paper was sent in early in June, and was
entitled " Regional Metamorphism." The amount of
work accomplished during this first half of 1885 was
enormous. Happily, several years before, Sir Henry
Acland had peremptorily limited his dining out to
twice a - week, so that five out of the seven were
restful evenings at home, which he preferred to all
others. But the passing of these Memoirs through
the press — more especially the Tables of Underground
Temperatures — was arduous, added to all the duties
of his chair — and those were very faithfully fulfilled.

Allusion is made in the following letter to the dis-
coveries of implements on the Chalk plateau. The
" friends in Kent " working in this direction were Mr
Harrison at Ightham, Mr De Barri Crawshay in the
Sevenoaks district, and Mr A. Montgomerie Bell at
Limpsfield.

J. Prestwich to J. JEvans. OXFORD, 15th June 1885.

You will see by the enclosed that our friends in Kent are
working successfully. I hope we shall be able to look them
up this summer. We leave to-morrow for Park Crescent, and
on Friday or Saturday proceed to Shoreham. I am glad to say
that two days ago I despatched the proofs of my two Koyal
Society papers. I have now only the reset tables of the Under-
ground Temperatures to see to, and can then devote myself

JET. 73.] RIVER DRIFT. 325

uninterruptedly to Vol. IT., nearly half of which is now in
type. I am well and about again now, but fear my hand-
writing is not improving, to judge from what our friend M.
Cornet tells me this morning : " Trois jours m'ont ete necessaire
pour lire et bien comprendre votre lettre du 9me a cause de
1'imperfection de 1'^criture." . . .

The excursions during this long vacation were very
numerous ; yet they were all confined to those within
the day from Darent-Hulme to the ground where flint
implements had been found, Mr Harrison frequently
joining. He accompanied Professor Prestwich to the
Powder Mills, near Green Street Green, to which
reference is made in the letter of 17th November.

J. Prestwich to B. Harrison. DARENT-HULME, 5th August 1885.

DEAR SIR, — I suppose you refer to Vol. IV. of the Geological
Mem. by Mr Whitaker. I shall have pleasure in lending it
to you. I have recently discovered two new terraces of river
drift at 250 and 350 feet in this valley. They may be worth
a search on your part. Both are close to Eynsford. I could
show you the exact spot on a map. Have you been again to
Green Street Green ? and have you got more of the curious
siliceous rock of which you left me a specimen ? I must go
there some day. Please give rne the exact name of house or
farm where the well is.

To the Same. OXFORD, 17 th November 1885.

DEAR SIR, — I wrote to Messrs Isler & Co. for a section of the
well at the Powder Mills. This they sent me, but as it seemed
to me insufficient, I wrote for further particulars and specimens.
The rock they sent was the ordinary green-coated flint from the
top of the chalk. I then sent a specimen of the siliceous stone,
and I enclose their reply received this morning.

I fear there has been some mistake. We saw none of the rock
at the Mills, and we got no confirmation of its having been found
there.

326 REGIONAL METAMORPHISM. [1885-86.

I fear the rock may have been carted to the spot to mend the
road. Vessels are constantly arriving in the Thames in ballast,
which often comes in usefully for road-mending. It is common
to find rocks from China and Japan on the London roads. When
you are next at Green Street Green can you make some inquiries
about it of roadmakers or others ? ,

An estimate of his paper on " Regional Metamor-
phism " is given by an eminent American geologist in
the following letter : —

Prof. Joseph le Conte to J. Prestwich.

BERKELEY, CAL., 18th November 1885.

MY DEAR SIR, — I need not tell you how deeply interested I
have been in your paper on metamorphism. I had already read
an abstract of it in ' Nature ' for July 3rd, but am very glad to
have a fuller copy. I have long believed that crushing is an im-
portant source of the heat of metamorphism, and have spoken of
it in that connection in my ' Elements of Geology,' under Meta-
morphic Rocks and under Volcanos and the source of their heat.
But I have never, I believe, given it sufficient prominence,
and I am glad that you have now done [so], especially that
you have brought forward positive evidence in the case of the
St Gothard Tunnel.

I have also noted with great interest your views of the sources
of volcanic water and of volcanic force. I have no doubt that the
violent explosions of many volcanos are due to superficial water,
but even in the quietest eruptions, as in Hawaiian volcanos, there
seems to be considerable water in the lavas. Let me draw your
attention without comment to Button's memoir on the Hawaiian
Islands, Fourth Annual Report of United States Geological Survey
(the page I cannot now refer to), where he gives reason for think-
ing that water is intimately incorporated with igneous magmas,
not as vapour vesicles but as a sort of hydrate, and does not
separate in vesicles until the lava is about to solidify. So that
lava after running 40 miles, and therefore after many days' ex-
posure to atmospheric pressure only, still solidifies as a light

JST. 73-74.] PROFESSOR J. W. JUDD. 327

sponge : the separation may be compared to the spitting of silver
in the act of solidification.

I was in camp last summer two months with Captain Button
on the great lava field of Northern California and Oregon. These
immense lava floods are a strong confirmation of your views.
These surely have never been erupted by elastic force of vapour,
but have been squeezed out.

The rocks of this coast are puzzling to the last degree. The
gradations from unchanged sediments through various degrees of
metamorphism to Plutonics is in many places complete and over
wide areas. Thanking you again for your pamphlet, and hoping
soon to reciprocate, I remain, yours faithfully,

JOSEPH LE CONTE.

Although Professor Prestwich was not present in
person at the next Annual Meeting of the Geological
Society, his thoughts were with his brother geologists.
A note addressed to his friend Evans is dated 22nd
February 1886.

I am glad to hear that the Anniversary Meeting went off so
well. Your joke was excellent. It would have taken me a week
to elaborate a joke on so solemn a subject as the foliation of

schists. . . .

It was a trial to him to have been absent. Mr Evans
was in the habit of occasionally announcing geological
facts to his friend Prestwich in rhyme, especially when
the latter was a prisoner to the house from indisposition,
and the promotion at this Anniversary Meeting of their
common friend Professor Judd, F.R.S., from the post of
Secretary to that of President, was told in the following
lines : —

" The plant will follow on the seed ;
The blossom follows on the bud :
The Secretary — good at need —
Blossoms as President in Judd."

328 TEXT-BOOK OF GEOLOGY. [l886.

A couple of notes to his little grand - niece show
how perfectly he understood what would interest and
please children, and how completely he could withdraw
his thoughts from " underground temperatures," "vol-
canoes," and " regional metamorphism " : —

OXFORD, 3rd May 1886.

MY DEAR LITTLE GrRACiE, — I am very glad to see that you can
write and spell so well. It is very nice for you all to have
gardens of your own. When I go to Shoreham I must see that
some flowers are sown in your garden there. When will you
come and see your gardens ? Will you come when the straw-
berries are ripe or when the gooseberries are ripe — there will
be lots of them, — or will you come later when the pears and
apples are ripe or when the peaches and grapes are ripe ? We
have no tame rabbits at Shoreham, but we have lots of wild ones,
and you may have all you can catch. So I hope you will come
as soon as papa and mamma can spare you, and bring brothers
and sisters with you. Aunt Grace sends her love, and I am,
gentle little Gracie, your affectionate uncle,

JOSEPH PRESTWICH.

A little before this date, c Geology, Chemical and
Physical/ Vol. L, had appeared. The following note
from the great statesman over whom, to the grief of
his country, the grave has so recently closed, was the
beginning, through Sir Henry Acland, of the inter-
change of occasional letters : —

W. E. Gladstone to J. Prestwich.

HAWARDEN CASTLE, CHESTER, 6th June 1886.

DEAR SIR, — I am exceedingly obliged by the gift of your
volume, and I earnestly hope ere long to profit much by an ex-
amination of it. Sir Henry Acland has recently bestowed upon me
more than one kindness, and none of them was more useful or
more appreciated than the acquaintance he enabled me, by your
permission, to make with a portion of your researches. I remain,
dear sir, faithfully yours, W. E. GLADSTONE.

MT. 74.] ISLE OF SHEPPEY. 329

Mr Evans, when on a visit to Christchurch (14th
June 1886), was unsuccessful in finding flint imple-
ments on the coast, and was compelled to buy. A
rhyme ended a letter to his invalid friend :—

The annexed receipt may be of use to you. I hope you are
better. With kindest regards, yours sincerely, JOHN EVANS.

HOW TO OBTAIN FLINT IMPLEMENTS AT HORDLE.

" Geologists who go to Hordle,

Hoping flint implements to find,
Need now no longer walk and dawdle,
Searching the shore in rain and wind.

A surer way that saves all travel,

And all fatigue to leg or eye,
And gets flint hatchets, from the gravel,

Just like those sought for, is— to buy ! "

An excursion about this date with his usual com-
panion was made to the Isle of Sheppey, its main
object being the inspection of the London Clay cliffs
at Warden Point and a search at their base for fossils.
The drive from Sheerness by Minster, and keeping as
near as possible to the range of east coast cliffs, was a
relief in that sultry summer day after the close atmos-
phere of railway stations. The plan had been to put
up at Warden and scramble over the cliff down to the
beach at Warden Point. But before reaching it, our
Professor descried something amiss with the landscape.
He knew the ground so well that there could be no
mistake in his bearings. Entering a cottage, an in-
quiry was made as to what had become of the custom-
house " look-out," and of the churchyard, in the corner
of which the little building stood, and all of which he
remembered as being situated in the rear of the cottage.

" Gone, sir," was the reply. " They are all gone."

330 PROFESSOR C. LAPWORTH. [l886.

The woman then explained that some years before,
during a dark night, they had all without any warning
slipped down into the sea. Previous to this occurrence
a field had intervened between the churchyard and the
edge of the cliff, but owing to the encroachments of
the sea the field disappeared, also the churchyard
with its contents, and the church was then pulled
down, being considered unsafe. As we looked down
a height of nearly 165 feet, a talus stretching out at the
base was to be seen on the beach, the fallen fragments
composed of soil, of London Clay, and of what else
we dared not conjecture. Our geologist, however, was
not deterred from descending some 20 or 30 feet, so as
to examine the recently exposed section. There was
no danger of falling down that awful clay cliff, but the
sun which beat upon it was sickening, and his com-
panion, who remained helpless on the summit, made an
inward resolution — as had been often made before —
never to encourage excursions on cliffs beyond the reach
of aid, — of a strong arm to help in case of need.

Professor Lapworth, in an appreciative letter ac-
knowledging the first volume of ' Geology/ also
remarks : —

C. Lapworth to J. Prestwich.

MASON COLLEGE, BIRMINGHAM, Oct. 21, 1886.

DEAR PROFESSOR PRESTWICH, — ... I have read, too, your
paper on" Underground Temperatures," with wonder and admira-
tion at the great mass of material you have collected upon the
subject, and the clear and convincing way in which it is laid
before the reader. This is certain to be one of your future
classic papers of reference.

In the matter of the " agency of water in volcanic eruptions,"
I see at present little chance of escape from your conclusions. I
read the paper on the subject with exceeding pleasure, as your

^T. 74.] OXFORD MEMORIES. 331

conclusions appear to me so practically identical with what I
have been, broadly speaking, teaching my students for years — at
any rate as regards causes ; the modus operandi I have never
seen so clearly suggested as in your paper. That the earth-skin
or super-crust crushed up in mountain ranges is comparatively
thin, has always seemed to be demonstrated by the facts of
geology, and that the explosions and volcanic actions must be
due to the downward passage (or lateral) of surface (or sea)
waters almost equally clear. I am, sincerely yours,

CHARLES LAP WORTH.

Although Sir Henry Acland had limited dining out
to twice a week, the fatigue of Oxford society, which
Prestwich so dearly enjoyed, became more than he felt
able for. There were besides so many other social
functions — breakfasts sometimes began the day, and
there seemed to be always luncheon engagements.
There were the pleasant parties at Balliol (and what
Oxford parties were not pleasant ?), when Jowett made
the most delightful of hosts. Two little notes in his
clear microscopic writing are before us, each giving an
invitation for either of two evenings — one to meet Mr
and Mrs William Spottiswoode, the other to meet
Browning, &c. Alas ! host and guests have all passed
away.

It is notable that Prestwich, who was so quiet in
general society, should have exercised to such a degree
the magnetic power of attraction. Was it the instinct
of brotherliness which was so strong within him that
made itself felt, or was it the charm of his simple and
sincere manner acting as a loadstone ? If not a talker,
he was always an interested and intent listener, and
the flash of merriment that lit up his features when a
good story was told testified to his thorough apprecia-
tion of it. It seemed to one who knew him intimately

332 OXFORD MEMORIES. [1887.

that prolonged conversation, even on his own special
subjects, was a fatigue : an over-active brain taxed his
energies, so that at the end of the ever arduous day he
was capable of enjoying evening society only in a rest-
ful fashion. Yet his personality was so marked that
in no crowd, in no company, could Joseph Prestwich
pass unnoticed.

Residence in Oxford had been such a happy time that
year after year the- decision as to his resignation of the
Professorship had been postponed, so reluctant was he
to sever his connection with the University and leave
the Oxford friends. In taking the appointment he had
hoped to hold it for a few years — perhaps as many as
five, — but the fascination of the Old University held
him, and the five years had run on to thirteen. On
the score of years alone, for he was now 74, he felt
that the time had arrived for him to take the step, and
as he thought of his unpublished notes, remarked with
sadness, " There is so much to be done and so little
time to do it." In sending in his resignation he ex-
pressed a hope to be allowed to retain the Professor-
ship until the end of the year, and that he might have
the work of the last term done by deputy, so that
Vol. II. of his ' Geology ' should be published while he
was still Professor, His wishes were met in the kind-
est way, and he pressed forward with his book, resolv-
ing to stay during the long vacation in order to finish
it, and then to retire to his dear home among the hills
of Kent. (Mr W. W. Watts, M.A., acted for a time
as Deputy-Professor after Prestwich had retired.)

J. Prestwich to J. Evans. OXFORD, 31s« March 1887.

MY DEAR EVANS, — Many thanks for your letter. I am glad
you agree with me in the step I have taken. I think also it is

J5T. 75.] GLACIAL PERIOD. 333

better for a younger man with more push and with the newer
petrological ideas to take the chair, especially as geology is now
to take its place amongst the subjects for examinations in
Science Honours. Although we shall miss you in Oxford I hope
we shall see more of you in London. ... I had a note a few
days since from Mr F. Latchmore of Hitchin, telling me he had
found bones of birds in the brick-pit. This is very interesting.
He sent me specimens], which I shall take to London. I also
had a note from Mr Prigg of Bury, telling me he had found im-
plements at all levels as in Kent.

In writing the last (Glacial) chapter of Vol. II., I became more
convinced than ever of the mistake of Croll, and of the risk of
his lead to geologists. On the questions of geological or rather
glacial time I am becoming more heretical than ever. I do not
like to broach it abruptly in Vol. II., so shall probably send a
short paper to the Geological Society to ventilate the subject
beforehand. I am satisfied that if, instead of Croll's 1000, we
were to take 100, we should be nearer the mark, if not beyond
it. Still Croll's is a most attractive and valuable work. . . .

The paper alluded to was a very important memoir
read in May to the Geological Society, its title being
" Considerations on the Date, Duration, and Conditions
of the Glacial Period, with Reference to the Antiquity
of Man." The author dwelt on the light thrown on the

o

duration of the Glacial Period by recent observations
on the movements of Greenland ice ; and the reading of
this paper gave rise to an animated discussion. His
views are expressed in the following letter to the friend
who shared his thoughts :—

J. PrestwicJi to J. Evans. OXFORD, isth May 1887.

I don't know whether you remember when we were working
at the Somme Valley that my first impressions were that the St
Acheul beds were of glacial times, and that the excavation of
the valley was the work of post-glacial times. In working up

334 GLACIAL PERIOD. [l887.

the last chapter of Vol. II., I had occasion to go over the whole
question again, with the advantage of some remarkable Greenland
observations by the Danes, and all my old heresies revived so
strongly that I then and there converted a chapter into a paper,
which I have just sent to the Geological Society. I feel more
than ever that it is impossible to work on Uniformitarian lines.
They cramp and narrow us, and inevitably lead to wrong con-
clusions. It is true that they are the right and correct basis to
work upon, but the conditions of past times were so different
from those of the present day that it is impossible to reason
correctly upon them. Let them be taken as the known quantity,
but the unknown quantities must just as surely be taken into
account if we are to arrive at a just conclusion. Of course
we can only do this in most cases approximately. After another
careful overhaul I have made up my mind on the matter, and
cannot find that there are grounds for extending the Glacial
Period beyond 15,000 to 20,000 years, and the post-glacial period
from 8,000 to 10,000 or 12,000, while I would carry man back
to pre-glacial or rather mid-glacial times. The evidence in the
Eastern counties and in the caves of Wales and the North,
though not strong enough in any single instance, furnishes as a
whole good corroborative testimony. My paper is not a long
one, but will serve to put my views on record, and to ventilate
the subject. It will of course meet with much opposition, as
Croll's views, which are so attractive, have been so generally ac-
cepted of late. I shall be glad also to see if I should have
occasion to change or modify my views, and to do that before
I publish Vol. II.

We are expecting the Lubbocks to-morrow to stay with us
over Sunday. He is to lecture on Savages. My wife joins me
in kindest regards to Mrs Evans. . . .

In another note to Mr Evans, the following passage
occurs :—

OXFORD, May 19th [18S7J.

The first thing, however, is, I think, to get rid of a rigid theory
which fixes dates and consequences not in accordance with geo-
logical facts, and to find some possible clue to the duration of the
glacial period. This has been the main object of my paper.

JBT. 75.] DEPARTURE FROM OXFORD. 335

To the Same. OXFORD, 27th May.

The main point of my paper was, I think, missed the other
night. It was not the question whether long or short time was
required for the Pleistocene phenomena, but whether the now
known ice - conditions of Greenland did not warrant some
material change from the Alpine data of Croll and others. With
our united kind regards, I am, sincerely yours,

JOSEPH PKESTWICH.

J. Prestwich to Professor Jules Marcou. OXFORD, 15th Sept. 1887.

MY DEAR MARCOU, — In reply to your inquiry, I am glad to
say I can report favourably of myself as to health. It is on the
score of years that I resign the Professorship here and retire to
my old home at Shoreham, where I shall be more at leisure to
work up the notes of the past years relating to the Quaternary
and Glacial Period.

I should have taken this step a year or two ago, but that I
wished to finish Vol. II. of my ' Geology ' before I left. This I
hope to do by the end of the year, until which time I hold the
chair and have my work done by deputy. I had no conception
the work would have taken so long. It is now more than 10
years since I undertook it.

The Taconic question much perplexed me, not knowing the
ground. I have devoted a short space to it, and I hope I have
given a fair re'sume'. You will see. It was very pleasant to
have news of you, though I wish you could have given a better
report of yourself. I am glad, however, to find you are busy
with good geological work, and do hope you will be present with
us next year to take part in the Geological Congress. I have
just sent you a short paper on the Glacial question, which will,
I expect, provoke discussion. Mrs Prestwich desires her kind
regards, and I am, sincerely yours, JOSEPH PRESTWICH.

The final move from Oxford was made in the end
of September, Professor I. Bayley Balfour,1 F.R.S.,

1 Then Professor of Botany in Oxford, now Professor of Botany in the
University of Edinburgh, eminent for his knowledge of the fossil flora of
successive epochs.

336 INTERNATIONAL GEOLOGICAL CONGRESS. [1887-88.

having most kindly undertaken to give the Geological
Class lectures for the last term of the year.

J. Prestwich to Rev. 0. Fisher. OXFORD, 2Qth Novbr. 1887.

MY DEAE FISHER, — Thanks for the paper announcing your
conversion to Inter-Glacial Man. With such a lead it is quite
possible I may follow, and I am the more anxious to see the
ground. Such a discovery will throw quite a new light on the
subject. I see also by the Brit. Assoc. report that Skertchly
makes out a good case, inasmuch as the overlie of the Boulder
Clay in the several sections he gives is sufficient and distinct.
Still I reserve my opinion till I see the ground, although I am
quite prepared to accept the conclusion.1

In a letter to Mr Evans, dated 2nd December, he
remarks : —

Owing to a delay with the map, Vol. II. will, I regret to say,
not be out till middle of January. ... I have had some very
kind letters from Judd, Bonney, Blanford, and Topley, asking
me to accept the Presidency of the Geological Congress. I would
much rather work in quiet as an ordinary member, and others
would, I know, make much better Presidents. I don't like to
decline, yet don't care to accept. So I ask my old friend's and
counsellor's advice. . . .

The honourable post so kindly urged upon Prestwich
was accepted, and, as it proved, the meeting of the
International Geological Congress in London in the
following September was a signal success.

The close occupation of seeing the proofs of Vol. II. of
' Geology ' through the press did not prevent the pro-
duction of another important paper to the Geological
Society, which was read on 21st December and pub-

1 The evidence still wanted is the finding of an undoubted palaeolithic
implement in the brick-earth or other deposit, beneath an undisturbed
mass of the chalky Boulder Clay ; and later observations render such a
discovery improbable.

MI. 75-76.] TEXT-BOOK OF GEOLOGY. 337

lished early in the following year, entitled, " Further
Observations on the Correlation of the Eocene Strata
in England, Belgium, and the North of France."

The publication in January 1888 of Vol. II. of
' Geology ' was a great satisfaction and relief, as it set
its author free to turn to his notes and collections of
rocks, fossils, and worked flints. His interest in Mr
Harrison's discoveries of rude flint implements on the
high plateaus of the surrounding Kentish hills was not
less keen, but the season rendered it impossible for him
to explore at the time their different localities. Several
winter months were spent at 21 Park Crescent with
his sisters-in-law, where note-books were studied and
digested, and weighty papers planned.

C. Pritchard l to J. Prestwich.

UNIVERSITY OBSERVATORY, OXFORD, 22nd Febry. 1888.

MY DEAR PRESTWICH, — Your grand vol. arrived here at 9 A.M.,
and by 10.10 was cut open to the very Index.

It creates many thoughts.

1st. Thanks for the kind remembrance, carrying me back
many days amid old reminiscences of some half century wellnigh.
How heartily I congratulate you on finishing the work of your
life as you have done.

I congratulate you also on the fair fame and pleasant memory
you leave behind you here. You may leave this earth thankful
for your career as one who has left the world (or will have left)
wiser for your work therein. God be thanked, say I, for you.

I am glad to see that our Press has done itself justice, and has
been liberal in the getting up of your great work.

How many old faces I recognised in the plates and woodcuts
— many of them handled, too, by me, but not studied as I could
desire.

I delight to find you put a reasonable interpretation on the

1 Kev. Charles Pritchard, F.R.S., Savilian Professor of Astronomy at
Oxford ; born Feb. 29, 1808 ; died May 28, 1893.

Y

338 TEXT-BOOK OF GEOLOGY. [l888.

forces of nature — some of them surely were once more intense
than now. But that you know.

The next generation of geologists may have something to say
about meteoric formations, and the consequence of the conflict of
the brickbats — if they ever did collide.

. . . You and Phillips have left the memories of pleasant
ways of act and thought, and I hope your successor will clothe
his outward being in your mantles. I am still working on: it
may be that I may be permitted to leave a record of work behind
me that may endure among the stars.

I hope you and your wife are in the enjoyment of pleasant
rest: rest you have earned. Again sending you my hearty
thanks for these two noble books — adornment and instruction
and full of old memories — I am, yours gratefully,

C. PRITCHARD.

Pray assure your wife that we often think and speak of her —
how kindly I need not say. C. P.

The following acknowledgment of the second volume
of ' Geology,' from Professor H. Alleyne Nicholson,1 is
expressed in the warmest terms :—

H. Alleyne Nicholson to J. Prestwich.

UNIVERSITY, ABERDEEN, Feb. 23, 1888.

DEAR PROFESSOR PRESTWICH,— Pray accept my warmest thanks
for the present of Vol. II. of your admirable treatise on. Geology.
I shall value it on the one hand as a personal gift, and on the
other hand for its great intrinsic value. I have studied the first
volume of your great work with the utmost interest and profit.
I do not know of any treatise, in any language, in which there
is to be found such a masterly exposition of such vital geological
questions as internal temperature, vulcanicity, mountain-making,
and the like. I do not doubt that I shall derive at least equal
profit from the second volume. With renewed thanks and kind
regards, I am, yours very sincerely,

H. ALLEYNE NICHOLSON.

1 H. A. Nicholson, born Sept. 11, 1844 ; died Jan. 19, 1899.

MI. 76.] WILLIAM COLCHESTER. 339

W. Colchester to J. Prestwich.

BURWELL, CAMBRIDGE, 25th Feb. 1888.

MY DEAR PRESTWICH, — On my return home last evening I
found your very acceptable and most generous present of the
second volume of your ' Geology.' I value it as the lifelong
labour of a lifelong friend. As I turned over its pages last
evening, how many pleasing recollections flashed on the memory !
Thank you most heartily. The whole get-up of the work is
most elaborate, map and all. How delighted Mrs Prestwich
must be that you have been able to embody your knowledge
in this publication without injury to your health ! I was afraid
at one time the work would prove beyond your strength. I
begin to find the strain of threescore and fifteen years tells ;
but I am wonderfully well, and set this east wind at defiance —
and we get it here in its bleakest form. . . .

When the crows have picked up the dirt, I have planned
many a raid into the flint-knife pits. How I should like to
have the company of you and Mrs Prestwich and Evans to do
the district ! I am settled here now for the rest of my life, and
there is a most serene-looking churchyard at the other end of
the vicarage. Before that time comes I should like to see you
and Mrs Prestwich here. Alas ! there is no Crag, but we have
other interesting deposits. With kindest regards to you all and
Mrs Prestwich, I remain, dear Prestwich, your obliged and faithful
friend, W. COLCHESTER.

Our village consists of a great number of peasant proprietors,
many of whom inherit their land with heavy charges upon it,
and, now that all agricultural produce is so reduced in value,
their lot does not favourably impress me with the three acres
and a cow system.

I stumbled the other day on the grave at Wicken of the
Protector's widow — buried there on her return from banish-
ment ! My wife is a Cromwell, and we had plenty of food
for meditation on the mutability of human affairs by that
grave.

Prestwich's name was announced in the list of re-

340 DEAN LIDDELL. [1888.

cipients of the Hon. D.C.L. degree to be conferred
at Oxford during the Encaenia. The following letter,
which explains the cause of his absence then, was
addressed to Mrs Prestwich by their dear and honoured
friend, the late Dr Liddell, then Dean of Christ
Church College.

OXFOED, 24th June 1888.

DEAR MRS PRESTWICH, — Sir H. Acland sent me the enclosed
to be delivered to your good husband on the occasion of his
honorary degree. I tore it open without thinking, and have
neglected to send it on. But you, at all events, will be glad
to read what our friend says of one whom he truly loves and
honours, and whom to have brought into connection with the
University I reckon not the least honour of my Vice-Chancellor-
ship. I deeply regret that his state of health prevents his accept-
ing in person the last acknowledgment of his services which it
was in our power to give.

Eemember me to him most kindly, and believe me to be, ever
yours most sincerely, H. G. LIDDELL.

Mrs Liddell joins in all affectionate remembrances to him and
yourself.

J. Prestwich to Professor Jules Marcou.

DARENT-HULME, 28th July 1888.

MY DEAR PROF. MARCOU, — Many thanks for your kind letter
and suggestion respecting the map, &c., of which I shall most
gladly avail myself in case of a second edition. I did not go
into the historical part of the glacial theory, as the subject was
too large for the space at my command. The small scale of the
Glacial map renders the colours somewhat indistinct, but I will
see to the points you name.

I am also very much obliged to you for two papers. The one
on American Geological Classification is of particular interest
and use to me. The Classification of the Cambrian and Silurian
rocks will be one of the main subjects for discussion at the
Congress, and will no doubt involve a full discussion of the
Taconic rocks. I do not think that the English geologists have

J5T. 76.] PLATEAU IMPLEMENTS. 341

formed any foregone conclusion about them. They seem to me
to require a special local knowledge. It will be a very large
meeting: above 400 names are now down. I am only very
sorry that you cannot be present. I was prevented by a sharp
attack of illness from going to Oxford to receive my D.C.L.
degree ; but I am getting about again now, though not yet up
to much. Mrs Prestwich desires her kind regards ; and trusting
you are fairly well, I am, dear Professor, sincerely yours,

JOSEPH PRESTWICH.

Minute instructions had been sent to Mr Harrison
to examine, among other localities, the Tertiary pebble-
beds at Crowslands, and the Drift clays at Terry's
Lodge, on the road between St Clere and the Maidstone
high road. Late in August Mr Harrison was requested
to meet him at Wrotham station, whence they were
to drive to Mailing, and to the pits at Leybourne
mentioned by Mr Topley, and " possibly to Trotters-
cliff." The ground in the neighbourhood, although
already familiar, was again patiently explored with
at least a twofold object — namely, for the occurrence
of Drift and of palaeolithic plateau implements. Here
it may be observed that in the many journeys to
London, as often as practicable, our Professor drove
to a different station from which to travel, and not
to that nearest home, so as to have a view of the
ground that led to it. During one summer Westerham
and its heights (some twelve miles distant) were visited
five times — not to speak of repeated journeys there in
other years.

Now, however, a sudden stop was put to both in-
door and outdoor geology by the arrival of a telegram
with the tidings of the death of his sister Kate
(Mrs Thurburn). During their long life there never
had been a cloud between them. His affectionate

342 INTERNATIONAL GEOLOGICAL CONGRESS.

heart was wrung by this sorrow, and at once he set
off with his wife to Brighton, there to look on the
face of his dear sister for the last time. For several
days he had no heart for work, and it was well that
the nearness of the date of the International Geologi-
cal Congress compelled him to make the necessary
preparations.

The idea of an International Geological Congress had
originated in America. The first had been held in
Paris in 1878, the second at Bologna in 1881, and the
third in Berlin in 1885 ; the fourth congress met in
London in the rooms of the London University at Bur-
lington House, on the evening of the 17th September
1888, when Professor Prestwich delivered the Presi-
dential Address in French. An old geologist in con-
gratulating him remarked that he spoke much better
in French than in English ! The Address treated of
the unification of geological terms over the world, and
of an agreement as to colours used in maps. It indi-
cated the questions to be considered — "the classifi-
cation of the Cambrian and Silurian formations, the
relations between the Carboniferous and the Permian,
between the Rhsetic and the Jurassic, and between the
Tertiary and the Quaternary. Among the new questions
which would be brought before the London Congress
was, above all, the fundamental question of crystalline
schists, &c., . . ." The assemblage was larger than
that of any of the three preceding congresses : up-
wards of 300 members attended in London, represent-
ing twenty-one different countries — from Norway, from
Peru and Mexico, and even from the Argentine Re-
public— in short, from all quarters of the globe. The
personal intercourse with many of the distinguished
American geologists present, was to the President ever

XT. 76.] INTERNATIONAL GEOLOGICAL CONGRESS. 343

a most happy reminiscence. Amongst them were Pro-
fessors Marsh from Yale College and Claypole from
Akron, Professors G. K. Gilbert and G. D. Walcott
from Washington, G. H. Williams from Baltimore,
H. S. Williams from Ithaca, N.Y., — but it seems in-
vidious to instance names.

Among French members were M. Gaudry, the old and
valued friend ; Professors de Lapparent, C. Barrois,
Gosselet, all men of world - wide fame ; and, among
others, Prince Roland Bonaparte and the Marquis
de Saporta. Italy's list was headed by Professor
Capellini, Rector of Bologna University, and the in-
timate friend of thirty years' standing. Germany sent
a number of notable members, including such names
as Von Richthofen, Beyrich, Zirkel, and Yon Zittel.
Among geologists from Austria - Hungary were such
well - known names as Stur, Neumayr, and Szabo ;
Belgium contributed a group of attached fellow-
workers — Mourlon, Dewalque, Renard, Rutot, Van
den Broeck, &c. ; whilst Holland also sent members.
Among thirteen from Russia were the distinguished
names of Pavlow and Nikitin. The two Professors
Stefanescu represented Roumania ; members from Spain
were present, and Colonel Delgado and Senor Choffat
from Portugal. Dr Otto Torell travelled from Sweden,
and there was a muster of brother -geologists from
Switzerland, among them Professors Renevier, Heim,
and Mayer - Eymer. Steenstrup represented Den-
mark ; Bulgaria also sent its member. Geologists
from India, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand
swelled the assemblage, all of them men who had
made their mark, such as Oldham, Sterry Hunt, &c.
It is hardly necessary to add that all parts of Great
Britain and Ireland contributed representatives. The

344 INTERNATIONAL GEOLOGICAL CONGRESS. [l888.

two General Secretaries were the lamented friend
Mr J. W. Hulke, F.K.S., and Mr W. Topley, F.RS.,
another friend who has likewise joined the majority,
while the energetic Treasurer was Mr F. W. Rudler,
F.G.S. Objects of great interest received from geo-
logists all over Europe, mainly illustrative of questions
to be discussed before the Congress, were exhibited,
the President sending his collection of Coalbrook-
dale fossils ; and also a series of types of flint im-
plements from the River Drifts of France and Eng-
land. The Organising Committee had done its work
very efficiently : there were many voluntary assistants,
so that with such an assemblage and the indefatigable
exertions of the secretaries, the Congress could scarcely
have failed to be a brilliant success. The sun, which
does not always show in London, shone out during the
daily sittings ; and it was only when bands of the
members headed by active British geologists were
scattered in different parts of the country — in the
Isle of Wight, North Wales, Yorkshire, &c. — that the
weather broke, and gave proof to foreigners of the
vicissitudes of an English climate.

The pleasure of meeting so many fellow - workers
at the Congress in London had been very great,
and instead of returning to Darent - Hulme fagged
and tired, Professor Prestwich found himself actually
refreshed and invigorated. He came home with re-
newed zest for field work, forgetful that he bore the
burden of years. Owing, however, to the lateness of
the season, further explorations were peremptorily for-
bidden, and we find numerous notes to Mr Harrison,
his enthusiastic aide, with detailed instructions for
him to examine certain localities, and to observe
special points in his walks.

JET. 76.] HONORARY DEGREE. 345

Before the close of the year Prestwich received the
degree of Hon. D.C.L. in Convocation at Oxford, when
he and his wife were the guests of their valued friends
Professor and Mrs Bartholomew Price. As was so often
the case, Nash Mills was their hospitable half- way
house, where a couple of days were spent prior to that
very gratifying visit to Oxford.

346

CHAPTEE XL

1888-1895.

PLATEAU IMPLEMENTS OF KENT LETTERS ON POST - GLACIAL

SUBMERGENCE CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE ROYAL

ACADEMY OF THE LINCEI VICE - PRESIDENT OF THE

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF FRANCE.

DURING the summer of 1888 the tusk of a mammoth,
6 feet long, had been found in a trench dug for drainage
works in the village of Shoreham, 30 feet above the
Darent, and a piece of this tusk about one foot long
reached Prestwich. A brief announcement of this
discovery appeared from his pen in the ' Geological
Magazine' for March 1889. Two months later, his
paper " On the Occurrence of Palaeolithic Flint Im-
plements in the Neighbourhood of Ightham, Kent ;
their Distribution and Probable Age," expressed his
views to the Geological Society. In this memoir,
which is one of extreme interest, he gave an ac-
count of Mr Harrison's discoveries of high-level Drift
in the Ightham district, and of palaeolithic flint imple-
ments at all levels up to 600 feet. He noticed also
the collection of palaeolithic implements made by Mr
De Barri Orawshay from the adjoining Sevenoaks
district, and that by Mr A. Montgomerie Bell of
Limpsfield from the head of the Darent Valley. The

JET. 77.] GEOLOGISTS' ASSOCIATION. 347

author assigned these rude works of early man to a
period long anterior to the valley - gravels formed
under the present river regime, and considered that
they might prove even to belong to an early stage
of the Glacial or Pre - Glacial period. The paper,
which was illustrated by a map of the Drift Beds
around Ightham, and also by a series of flint imple-
ments from the hill - drift of unmistakable human
workmanship, was well received.

The increasing load of years had not diminished his
enthusiasm, and Prestwich never ceased to take a keen
interest in the geological features around his Kentish
home. Writing to Mr William Topley (20th May 1889),
he invites him to spend a day at Otford and Westerham,
in order to examine two considerable patches of gravel
which, until the railway was made, escaped notice.
With Mr Topley he directed an excursion of the
Geologists' Association, on the 1st June 1889, to
Ightham,1 for its members to examine its Gravel
Beds and those in the surrounding district, and from
which Mr Harrison had made his large collection of
flint implements. Again, on 13th July, he and Mr
Topley conducted another excursion of the Geologists'
Association to Limpsfield (Surrey).2 To quote Mr
Topley's report, " This excursion was intended to
supplement that to Ightham on June 1st, and to
give an opportunity of examining Gravels at the
western end of the Darent Valley, partly within
that valley, partly on the watershed between the
Darent and the Medway." The inspection of the
very interesting collection of flint implements made
by Mr A. Montgomerie Bell from the Limpsfield
gravels was also one of the objects of the excursion.

1 Proc. Geol. Assoc., vol. xi. p. Ixvi. 2 Ibid., p. Ixxxii.

348 CHALK ESCARPMENT. [l889.

Prestwich was on very affectionate terms with Dr
Gustave Plarr, the eminent mathematician, who left
Strasburg during the siege, and thenceforward made
England his home. Madame Plarr had been an old
and valued friend of the Prestwich family, and was
nearly connected by marriage.

J. Prestwich to Gr. Plarr.

DARENT-HULME, SHOREHAM, SEVENOAKS, 21th June 1889.

MY DEAR GUSTAVE, — I am glad we shall have the pleasure of
seeing you on the 6th July. I will then endeavour (if time per-
mit) to answer your query respecting the Chalk escarpment. I
would not attempt it in a letter, for a volume would hardly
suffice for the conflicting opinions and evidence. I may, how-
ever, say that Lyell's theory of sea action and sea cliffs is now
generally abandoned.1 You will find a chapter on the subject
in Eamsay's ' Physical Geology and Geography/ if you have the
book. With our united kind regards to all your party, I am,
sincerely yours, JOSEPH PRESTWICH.

The short geological expeditions during the summer
gave the greatest pleasure to Professor Prestwich,
whose health with vigilant care had improved, and
who seemed to have drifted out of the condition which
had led to frequent and serious illnesses during a
series of years. The following note from the skilful
physician whom he had once or twice consulted may
not be out of place :—

Sir Andrew Clark to J. Prestwich.

16 CAVENDISH SQUARE, 26«A Oct. 1889.

DEAR PROFESSOR PRESTWICH, — I have received the copy which
you have been pleased to send me of your work on ' Geology,' and
I return you my grateful thanks for this valuable and welcome
expression of your consideration.

1 Lyell himself abandoned this theory in his 'Student's Elements of
Geology,' 1871, p. 81.

MT. 77.] WESTLETON BEDS. 349

I regard it as one of the great privileges to which my profes-
sion has admitted me, that I have had the opportunity of minis-
tering, even in small degree, to the health and comfort of one
whose life and work have secured for him universal and deep
respect. With renewed thanks, yours faithfully,

AND. CLARK.

The age of the plateau implements constantly occu-
pied the attention of Prestwich.

J. Prestwich to B. Harrison. DARENT-HULME, 21st Sept. [1889 or '90].

DEAR SIR, — There is still some doubt about the relative posi-
tion of the Drift, of chert fragments, flints, and implements, to
the " Eed Clay with Flints." There is some reason to suppose
the former is the older. On the other hand, I have never seen
such a Drift under the Eed Clay. It may be that the clay wraps
round, but generally it seems to pass under ; or do the imple-
ments, &c., belong to the Eed Clay ? To assist this point I want
an excavation at Bower Lane. The Lenham Beds are certainly
under the Eed Clay. . . .

Although not published until the following year,
Parts I. and II. of the memoir on the " Westleton
Beds" were read to the Geological Society in 1889.
Their title was, " On the Relation of the Westleton
Beds, or Pebbly Sands of Suffolk, to those of Norfolk,
and on their Extension inland ; with some Observa-
tions on the Period of the Final Elevation and Denuda-
tion of the Weald and of the Thames Valley, &c." It
was acknowledged that no one was so well fitted as
Prestwich to deal with the question of the correlation
of the Drifts of the eastern counties with those of
the Thames Basin and southern counties ; and it was
admitted that no strata furnish problems more diffi-
cult of solution. Part III. of the memoir, which em-
braced a very wide range, was read in February 1890,

350 WESTLETON BEDS. [1889-90.

and was entitled, " On the Relation of the Westleton
Shingle to other Pre - Glacial Drifts in the Thames
Basin, and on a Southern Drift, with Observations
on the Final Elevation and Initial Subaerial Den-
udation of the Weald, and on the Genesis of the
Thames." These three great papers were well illus-
trated, and they summed up the observations of many
years. It was an untold satisfaction to their author
to see them put on .record in the pages of the Journal
of the Geological Society.

J. Prestwich to J. Evans.

DARENT-HULME, SHOREHAM, 16th December [1889].

MY DEAR EVANS, — I was looking forward to meet you on
Wednesday next, when I have a paper coming on ; but I
shall be unable to be present, I am sorry to say. This change-
able weather does not suit me, though I have not much to
complain of. This paper embraces some of my earliest notes
(1842-7), when the Gt. Eastern Eailway was made. I wish I
could have published them long ago ; but many things inter-
vened, and the subject was an intricate and extended one. It
has taken me some months to go over my old notes and put
the paper in ship-shape. It has not lost by waiting, though I
have lost some things in matters of priority.

J. Prestwich to Sir A. Gfeikie.

DARENT-HULME, SHOREHAM, 18th Decbr. [1889].

MY DEAR GEIKIE, — I am very sorry not to be at Burlington
House this evening, when my paper is to be read. This
paper is in great part the result of observations made many
years ago, and which I should have made public long ago but
for the pressure of business when in the City, which only left
me time for nightwork, and [of] University work and ' Geology '
when at Oxford. I have now commenced looking up my old
notes and papers, and hope yet to give many of the interesting
sections exposed when the Gt. Eastern and other railways were

^ET. 77-78.] NOTE-BOOKS AND MAPS. 351

made. All I cannot hope to give, but I have told Whitaker, if
they can be of any use to him in future editions of maps or
memoirs, they are quite at his service as soon as I have put
them in a little order.1 Many of those are at present merely
in the form of rough notes, intelligible only to myself. The
delay in bringing them out has been a loss and vexation to me.
With my wife's and my best Xmas and New Year's wishes to
you and yours, I am, sincerely yours, JOSEPH PRESTWICH.

J. Prestwich to J. Evans. DARENT-HULME, IQtk April 1890.

MY DEAR EVANS, — I regret deeply the loss of my old friend
Hubert. . . . Paris will not seem to me the same without him.
It must have been about the year 1836 that we first became
known to one another, and I never passed through Paris without
seeing him. At first we had many differences, and his vigorous,
hearty, and good-tempered discussions were a great pleasure to
me. His robust frame led me to hope that his would have been
a longer life.

J. Prestwich to G. Plarr.

DARENT-HULME, SHOREHAM, SEVENOAKS, 6th June 1890.

MY DEAR GUSTAVE, — Many thanks for the copy of your
papers, though I regret to say they are sealed books to me.
Pebbles of white quartz are originally derived from veins in
the nietamorphic rocks by marine action. They may occur in
any formation, and are common in many. A few are found in
the Lower Greensand ; many in the Millstone Grit. Those in
the Westleton Beds may come from the rocks of Ardennes, or
from some of the sedimentary rocks of Belgium. The Westleton
pebbles are rarely larger than a marble.

Mrs Prestwich joins me in kind regards to Mme. Plarr; and
I am, yours sincerely, JOSEPH PRESTWICH.

With the advent of summer several short visits were

1 The notes and papers here referred to, as well as many field-maps, have
now been presented to the Geological Survey Office in Jermyn Street,
London.

352 PLATEAU IMPLEMENTS. [1890-91.

made, when the Professor displayed as much energy
and activity as if he had received a new lease of life.
A stay at Brighton, as guests of Mr and Mrs Willett,
was an enjoyable time, as much geology as possible
being fitted into two or three days. When out near
Newhaven it was a pleasure to others to witness the
keen interest and precision with which his quick eye
detected traces of low inland cliffs, showing the limit
of the former wider range of the river. A few days
were spent also at Broomfield, near Stockport, with
his sister, Mrs Russell Scott, when the sight of a new
district lured him to keep on the move — early and
late.

J. Prestwich to J. Evans.

DARENT-HULME, SHOREHAM, 1st November 1890.

MY DEAR EVANS, — Time is slipping on, and still finds us here.
I have, in fact, not been to London, it seems to me, for months.
The Geological Session will, however, soon be beginning, and I
hope to meet at some of the meetings. When do you leave for
the South ? I have done little field-work this summer, owing to
the long-continued wet weather. My allies have, however, been
busy. Mr Harrison has not left a ridge unexplored, and has
now discovered some fifteen localities, ranging from 450' to 750'
above 0. D., for implements of the Ash type ; and Mr Crawshay
has found some eight or nine others ranging from 470' to 860',
also one of the Hill type near Green Street Green. I need not
say, if you have leisure, how much pleasure it would give us to see
you down here on a little visit. We shall be glad to hear how
you all are ; and with our united kind and affectionate regards, I
am, ever sincerely yours, JOSEPH PRESTWICH.

We were grieved to hear of Mrs Busk's death. We valued
her greatly.

The following letter to the Rev. R. Ashington Bullen

MT. 78-79.] PARISH WORK. 353

has reference to Mr and Mrs H. Bingham Mildmay's
absence from Shoreham Place for a term of years : —

J. Prestwich to R. A. Bulkn. DARENT-HULME, 2Sth Novr. 1890.

MY DEAR MR BULLEN, — In case I should not be present at
the meeting to-morrow, I write to mention that I would have
proposed a short address somewhat in the enclosed terms, or
modified, as it may be thought suitable, to Mr Mildmay. But
the best proof of the esteem and regard in which we hold Mr
and Mrs Mildmay will be by carrying on, as far as lies in our
power, the many acts of kindness and charity to our poorer
neighbours of which they have hitherto taken charge. Their
benevolence we can probably hardly expect to equal, but we
may do something to mitigate the loss. I shall be most happy
to join in any suitable scheme that may be proposed. "With
respect to the schools which have been so well conducted, I
should regret to see any essential change made ; but if we are
not prepared to carry them on on the voluntary system, I pre-
sume the same work could be carried on under the School Board
system. These are the chief points which occur to me. There
are others, but they will all require further consideration. You
may reckon on my assistance ; and believe me to be, dear Mr
Bullen, yours very sincerely, JOSEPH PRESTWICH.

The next letter refers to a paper which, in January
1891, he read to the Geological Society.

J. Prestwich to Sir A. Geikie. 21 PARK CRESCENT, 20«A Jany. [1891].

MY DEAR GEIKIE, — Very many thanks for your kind letter.
We came up to town during a break in the weather just before
Christmas, but I have not been out since. I am, however, better
now, and with this pleasant change I will, providing it continues,
be with you to-morrow. I am glad you can put my paper first,
as some friends coming from the country may have to leave
early, and I may possibly have to do the same. My paper, as
you will see, opens some wide questions, and I should be glad to
benefit by any criticisms that the discussion may give rise to. I
am coming round, as you will see, to breaks in the Glacial period.

z

354 THE SOLENT RIVER. [1891.

The title of the paper was, " On the Age, Formation,
and Successive Drift - stages of the Valley of the
Darent ; with Hemarks on the Palaeolithic Implements
of the District, and on the Origin of its Chalk Escarp-
ment." The sections and map of the Darent basin
illustrating this paper were, as usual, of the clearest,
telling their story at a glance.

J. Prestwich to J. Evans.

21 PARK CRESCENT, 14£A February 1891.

MY DEAR EVANS, — You have been much in our minds, and we
thought of what a pleasant time you [were having] in Sicily and
Greece ; but I understand you did not escape the bad weather we
had here, although with you it was rain, while with us it was
snow. My paper was read at the meeting before the last, and I
gave my final views about the age of the plateau specimens.
Having given the geological evidence, I think it will be well
now to give the anthropological side of the question, with a good
series of illustrations in the style of PI. II. in your ' Stone Imple-
ments.' I have spoken to [E. B.] Tylor about it, and will see about
arranging specimens for the Anthropological Institute.

I hope you will have something to tell me about the Sicilian
caves. I fear, though, that you had little time for geology. Much
hoping to see you soon. . . .

To the Same. LONDON, 27<A March [1891].

MY DEAR EVANS, — ... I fear you are having very unpleasant
weather for your visit to the South Coast. If you have time and
opportunity, I wish you would look again to see whether you can
find any better arguments than have yet been adduced in support
of an old Solent river.1 I wish I could go over the ground again
myself with you. I am glad to say I am now down -stairs
again, and have just finished the proofs of my Darent Valley
paper. . . .

1 Prestwich's observations on " The Solent Eiver " were printed in the
Geological Magazine for 1898, p. 349.

Mf. 79.] PLATEAU IMPLEMENTS. 355

To the Same. DARENT-HULME, 22nd April 1891.

MY DEAR EVANS, — Having done with the geological question
of the Chalk plateau implements, I am taking up the anthro-
pological side, and getting up a paper for the Institute, for which
Mr Peek l tells me they can give me the 23rd June. I am now
going over the 700 (?) specimens of Harrison's to sort the types
and select for exhibition. I wish you could see them. I feel
satisfied that their rude and elementary characters corroborate
the geological age to which I have assigned them. I fear you
are spoilt by the beauty of your own collections, and are un-
willing to admit the relationship of these poor cousins. To me
it cannot be denied, though I admit it is often difficult to recog-
nise their work. I am getting about again, though I keep much
at home and indoors. . . .

The paper in which he laid his views before the
Anthropological Institute was published some seven
months later in its Journal, in February 1892, being
entitled, " On the Primitive Characters of the Flint
Implements of the Chalk Plateau of Kent, with refer-
ence to the Question of their Glacial or Pre-Glacial
Age. With Notes by Messrs B. Harrison and De Barri
Crawshay." The reading of this paper gave rise to a
certain amount of discussion and much adverse criticism
— a novel experience for the author. Several of the
audience questioned the fact of the rude flint implements
exhibited being worked, and asserted their belief in
these chipped flints being only natural forms. This
opposition did not in the least shake Prestwich in his
opinion. It seemed to revive the incredulity which he
had to face when, more than thirty years before, he
made public his convictions as to the genuine character
of the implements discovered in the valley of the Somme
by M. Boucher de Perthes, and which up to that time

1 Now Sir Cuthbert E. Peek, Bart.

356 PLATEAU IMPLEMENTS. [l891.

the world of science had scouted. In his previous paper
on palaeolithic flint implements, read before the Geolog-
ical Society in 1889, he had recorded their occurrence
in about forty places in the neighbourhood of Ightham,
Kent. Sir John Evans, our leading authority on the
flint and stone weapons of primitive man, refers to this
paper in the second edition, recently issued, of his
magnificent work.1 He remarks :—

Since that paper was published, Mr Harrison, aided by Mr
de B. Crawshay, has extended his researches, with the result
that many more implements have been found at high elevations
to the north of the escarpment of the Chalk. These discoveries
enabled Sir Joseph Prestwich in another paper, " On the Age,
Formation, and Successive Drift -stages of the Valley of the
Darent, and on the Origin of its Chalk Escarpment," still further
to extend his interesting speculations. It is true that he accepts
as being of human manufacture flints with bruised and battered
edges which I and some others venture to regard as owing their
shape to purely natural causes. But, fortunately, this does not
invalidate his arguments, as in most cases where the so-called
" Plateau types " have been found, more or less well -finished
palaeolithic implements of recognised form, though much abraded
and deeply stained, have also been discovered. The evidence of
such witnesses is not impaired by calling in that of others of
more doubtful character.

To the last Prestwich persistently maintained his
belief in the rude plateau implements as being the
handiwork of man, and not mere natural flints. He
insisted that they admitted of classification into three
distinct groups, illustrating the different uses for
which they were designed. To speak generally, the
first group included flat flint flakes, with their edges

1 On the Ancient Stone Implements of Great Britain : Longmans & Co.,
1897.

GROUP I.

m

GROUP II. GROUP III.

PLATEAU IMPLEMENTS.

JET. 79.] DE, H. P. BLACKMORE. 357

notched or chipped, the larger fitted to break bones
or other hard substances. The second consisted chiefly
of scrapers of varied types — square, crescent or beak-
shaped, or double. The plateau implements of the
third group were more rare, and closely resembled
forms common in the valley — such as those of
Abbeville and St Acheul. Although Sir John Evans
could not agree in this classification, and considered
many of the rude types only natural forms, the differ-
ence of opinion between the two friends never made
any difference in the brotherly footing on which,
during so many years, they stood to each other, and
to which they both held fast to the end.

It may here be mentioned that Dr H. P. Blackmore,
F.G.S., has obtained a number of rude "Eolithic" im-
plements, from the plateau gravel of Alderbury Hill,
near Salisbury, and his testimony (given in the sequel)
in favour of their use by man is of great value.1
Many examples may be seen in the famous Blackmore
Museum at Salisbury.

From the series of plateau flints described in
Prestwich's paper, read before the Anthropological
Institute, we give a plate illustrating specimens from
each of the three above-mentioned groups. Although
isolated types of these rude flint implements often fail
to carry conviction, it is otherwise when a series with
identical chippings and markings are grouped together :
then the design and guiding hand of man to shape them
are evident. In no case has this been so clearly shown
as in the interesting paper recently published by M. A.
Thieullen,2 in which numerous specimens of each type

1 See also Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. liv. p. 297.

2 Les veritables Instruments usuels de 1'Age de la Pierre. Par A.
Thieullen : Societe" d'Anthropologie de Paris, 1897.

358 HOME LIFE. [1891.

are ranged side by side, showing the close resemblance
of many to the plateau implements, and thus telling
their own tale.

It is usual to regard old age as the season of rest
from labour. Yet, although in his eightieth year,
Joseph Prestwich was now, with undiminished mental
vigour, preparing to continue his series of papers,
Glacial and Post-Glacial. Never were the declining
years of life more . thoroughly enjoyed. In a note
written in May of this year, he remarks, " I am
revelling in the unwonted leisure for my own work."
At intervals during the day he was to be seen among
the little larch plantations, or in the grove of labur-
nums on the hill — sometimes with lengths of white
tape in his hand marking trees to be transplanted
(there was no end to that process), or using his pruning-
knife to some protrusive branch. But his favourite
garden-implement was a short French saw, which was
often in his hand for trimming the young trees and
for keeping clear the vistas down into the valley.
How he dwelt upon the varying aspects of Nature !
No two days alike — loveliest in the sunshine of a
summer morning, when hills and valley were veiled
in luminous haze. " Oh, I am so happy ! " was his
exclamation, made with glistening eyes. " Sometimes
I feel as if I were too happy ! " He was not a man
of many words, and we believe that in his heart he
gave thanks to God. In addition to visits from the
Russell Scott children, he had the added delight of
seeing other little relatives — the grandchildren of his
sister Mrs Thurburn, who with their parents, Mr and
Mrs Seymour Rouquette, had gone to live at Sevenoaks,
and who occasionally came over for a day in the garden.
And the little Bullens from the Vicarage were especially

JET. 79.] HOME LIFE. 359

welcome. A favourite amusement was to climb the
small book-steps in the library, when the youngest,
who was old enough to lisp a few words, held out her
arms and insisted on our geologist placing her on the
very top, while her small brother and sisters sat perched
upon the lower steps. This was usually followed by
a walk in the garden, when there was rivalry among
the four children as to which two were to walk by
his side and have hold of his hands.

To his Grand-nephew, Geoffrey Scott. DARENT-HULME, 3rd Oct.

MY DEAR LITTLE GEOFFREY, — We have had to gather your
filberts, and have sent them up by Aunt Isabella. You can
give the grapes on the top of the basket to mother, and have
a talk with her about coming down. There are the walnuts
yet to gather, and lots of pears and apples. Come soon. How
would next Friday or Saturday do ? Talk it over with Gracie,
father, and mother, and write soon to your affectionate Uncle
Jovis.

You must have had a very jolly time of it at the Lakes. I
like your drawings very much ; but they would be better if you
did not draw in such a hurry, and took more pains about them.
Try next time.

The following letter refers to excavations carried
on, under Mr Harrison's directions, at Oldbury, close
to Ightham :—

J. Prestwich to J. Evans. DARENT-HULME, 10th Novr. 1891.

MY DEAR EVANS, — I fear there is little chance of seeing you
here, now that the season is so far advanced ; so Oldbury must
wait. Mr A. K. Wallace has paid Harrison a visit, and was
much interested in his collection. I have a long paper in hand
on the Kaised Beaches and " Head " of the South of England,
in which, amongst other questions, I discuss the origin of the
foreign boulders of the Sussex coast, of the ossiferous fissures

360 RAISED BEACHES AND "HEAD." [1891-92.

of Oreston, and of the Drift in the coast plain and at Eastbourne,
&c. It is carrying out very much the views I expressed at
Swansea. I fear I shall be considered very heterodox; but I
hope it will not be considered of me as Irving, quoting Darwin,
says, " that a geologist ought not to live after a certain age." I
am thankful, at all events, that I am free from the shackles of
Uniformitarianism, and live in hope of loosening their hold on
my friends. . . .

His keen attention was given to questions of public
interest.

J. Prestwich to J. Evans. DARENT-HULME, 18th Novr. 1891.

MY DEAR EVANS, — I read with interest the letters in the
' Times ' about the Water question. The mode of proceeding
with underground waters is scandalous. The law is in accord-
ance with the ignorance of the 12th century, and it is wonderful
that it should exist in the 19th. Geology should be made im-
perative in our engineers' education.

A. E. Wallace has been to see Harrison's collection at Ightham,
and he writes to me respecting the plateau specimens, that he
has " not the slightest doubt of their being the works of man," and
he found them different from anything he had seen.

To the Same. LONDON, 4th Jany. 1892.

MY DEAR EVANS, — I have to-day sent in a long paper of some
140 foolscap pages, which embraces my observations for many
years of the raised beaches and " Head," and more especially of
many curious phases the " Head " takes inland. I feel pretty
sure of my facts, but expect there will be very considerable
differences of opinion as to my theory. It will take time to in-
vestigate and make its way. I hope it may be read whilst
Geikie is President [of the Geological Society]. . . .

J. Prestwich to Sir A. Geikie.

21 PARK CRESCENT. 4th Janry. 1892.

MY DEAR GEIKIE, — Thanks for your note and family news,
which it was very pleasant to receive. We caine unfortunately

JET. 79-80.] PLEISTOCENE SUBMERGENCE. 361

to London the very day of the fog, leaving Shoreham in bright
sunshine and coming in for four days' night here. I had hoped to
have been at the meeting on the 23rd, but was afraid to face the
fog and cold. Paris with its clear atmosphere is very enjoyable
at the time of the New Year.

I have just sent in a paper to the Society, which I have had
long in hand. Of the facts I am pretty sure, but I hesitated
long about the conclusions, which are not free from difficulty.
I hope it may come on while you are still in office. It is a long
tale, but it has been one of much interest to me, and will not, I
hope, shock my younger colleagues too much. Hoping you and
Lady Geikie are well, and with our united kind regards and best
wishes for the New Year, I am, sincerely yours,

JOSEPH PRESTWICH.

J. Prestwich to Sir J. Evans. LONDON, I4«7t Jany. 1892.

MY DEAR EVANS, — You will remember that in our long walks
years ago I always expressed an opinion that the surface of the
land seemed to me to show the effects of water-action inde-
pendently of snow or ice action, but I was not able to give proofs
in support of my opinion. Last summer I was so much of a
prisoner that I had leisure to work up all my old notes of years
past, which have given me an amount of evidence sufficient to
satisfy me that the South of England was submerged at a very
late geological period. This I have embodied in a paper, neces-
sarily long, in consequence of the number of the facts, and have
sent it in to the Geological Society. It is to be read on the 10th
Feb. I hope you will be able to be present either to criticise
or to support. I know I shall be considered very heterodox, but
it is not a hasty opinion ; I see no other solution of the problem,
and fortunately I am not fettered about things possible and
impossible. . .

To the Same. LONDON, 23rd February [1892],

MY DEAR EVANS, — I much doubt whether I shall be able to be
present to-morrow. I have been out to-day for the first time, but
do not feel up to much. I do not expect my views to be ac-

362 ALDERBURY. [l892.

cepted at once, but I give reasons and facts for all that I advance,
and I believe that when dispassionately considered and without
the narrowing influence of uniformitarianism, but by investigation
of the phenomena on the spot, the solution I propose will be
found the one which best answers to all the conditions of the
case. I am glad that C. Eeid has found glacial striae on the
Pagham blocks. Mr Abbott told me he had also found them on
some of the smaller specimens at Brighton. I have shown in my
paper that they could not have come from the shores of France
or the Channel Islands, but probably from Norway or North
Germany. This would agree with and be confirmed by C. R's
observations. I suppose Geikie is off to the South. I wish I
could do the same, and trusting you are keeping well. . . .

Dr H. P. Blackmore to J. Prestwich. SALISBURY, 20th April 1892.

DEAR PROFESSOR PRESTWICH, — I do not know if my thanks
are due to you or Mr de Barri Crawshay for a copy of your paper
on the character of the plateau implements of Kent. The paper,
as well as your previous ones in the Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc.,
interested me much, and set me thinking over the Gravels of
this district: from, thinking I set to work hunting, and the
result has been far better than I expected. Besides the higher-
and lower-level valley Gravels, which have proved fairly prolific
in the ordinary types of palaeolithic implements, there are two
other sets of Gravel, the lower ranging about 300 feet above the
sea-level, and the other at from 400 to 500 feet.

The first set, viz., the 300 feet, includes the Gravels at Alder-
bury, three miles to the south of Salisbury : these I had always
thought of Pliocene age ; but two years since, when visiting the
pits with Mr Jukes-Browne, I found a rough waste-flake in situ
which sadly puzzled me, as although only a flake, it to my mind
bore clear evidence of human workmanship ; but since reading
your papers and seeing the plateau types, the pits have again
been visited and hunted over — with the result that plenty of
evidence of implements is there. When I say implements, the
word would perhaps give a wrong impression, as the specimens
found are rather natural or accidental forms of flint that have
been taken up, used a few times, and then thrown away — but

JET. 80.] PLATEAU IMPLEMENTS. 363

the evidence of use to any one accustomed to the usual forms of
flints is unmistakable. As far as I can yet judge, the early
savage only had two ideas in the selection and use of these con-
veniently shaped stones, viz., hammering and scraping — and this
is just what one would have expected. Some years since, the
late Professor Leidy gave me a stone scraper which was used
by a tribe of North American Indians for dressing buffalo-skins :
it was an ordinary smooth quartzite pebble, split in half with
the thin sharp edge carefully removed, exactly like the plateau
Eocene pebbles described in your paper.

The highest point from which these plateau forms have as
yet been found is 486 feet, on the summit of the hill beyond the
rifle range: there is, however, another patch of gravel, 510 feet,
which I have not yet had an opportunity of searching. With
kind regards, yours very truly, H. P. BLACKMORE.

J. Prestwich to Sir J. Evans. DARENT-HULME, 17 'th AprU 1892.

MY DEAR EVANS, — It was very pleasant to me to go over
your route and recall to mind all the places we had visited to-
gether. St Acheul must exhibit a melancholy change from what
it was when we first knew it. I have done no field work yet,
but am waiting for fine weather to visit two new localities dis-
covered by Mr Bullen.1 Mr Hale, jun., has come over from the
Malay Peninsula with a store of curios of all sorts.

Dr H. P. Blackmore to J. Prestwich. SALISBURY, 3rd May 1892.

DEAR PROFESSOR PRESTWICH, — Enclosed you will receive a
sketch of the implement from Burroughs Hill : the shaded part
represents the natural crust of the flint.

Mr Bullen has very kindly sent me his Preston Hill specimen
for inspection, and I am very glad to have seen it. It is much
more finely worked and aged than the one from Burroughs
Hill, but I have learnt to pay but little notice to mere surface
appearance as far as age is concerned, for many of the later Drift

1 Rev. E. Ashington Bullen, then Vicar of Shoreham, Kent.

364 GEOLOGICAL WORK. [l892.

specimens — whose history absolves them from the slightest con-
nection with the family of " Flint Jack " — show marvellously little
change, whereas others from the same beds are nearly converted
into pebbles by water and wear. We evidently as yet know
but little as to the precise action of water percolating through
beds of Gravel, either as to staining or whitening. . . .

I hope next week to do some work at a patch of Gravel on
one of your highest points, five miles to the N. of this. With
very kind regards, yours very truly, H. P. BLACKMORE.

J. Prestwich to Sir A. Gfeikie. DARENT-HULME, 15th May 1892.

MY DEAR GEIKIE, — Many thanks for your letter, and I trust
you will not find too much to quarrel with in my paper. I am
now continuing the same line of research over France and the
south of Europe. I shall there, however, be dependent on the
works of others (with the exception of France), whereas in Eng-
land I am acquainted with the whole of the ground. This is
of course a great disadvantage, which it is now too late to
remedy.

You must have had a pleasant time in Paris, where formerly
I was well-known, but am glad to know that my old friends
Daubre'e and Gaudry are still to the fore. You do not tell me,
however, how you are. We should much like to know, if you
can find time to send me a few lines. I am thankful to say we
are both well. This quiet country life suits me physically and
mentally. . . .

In reply to an inquiry from Mr Harrison we find him
writing at this time, " Decomposed flint pebbles are of
not unfrequent occurrence in various Tertiaries. They
lose their water of crystallisation, and some molecular
changes take place which render them white, soft, and
friable. These you have sent are from Lower Ter-
tiary (Woolwich and Reading ?) Beds. You speak also
of decomposed flints as well as pebbles. These are
unusual, but you send no specimen. . . ."

J5T. 80.] J. W. HULKE. 365

J. W. Hulke l to J. Prestwich.

10 OLD BURLINGTON STREET, LONDON, W., 17th May 1892.

MY DEAR PRESTWICH, — Warm thanks for your papers on
Eaised Beaches and on Late Post-Glacl. Submergence, which
I have read and read again with very great interest. The vari-
ability and fragmentary preservation of these relatively recent
beds have for me been great difficulties in getting a good grasp
of their time sequence.

I wish our old friend Mansel-Pleydell had been able to give
a more detailed account of his discovery some two years ago of
elephant remains in a sand-bed which he sketched to me.2

I saw many years ago a molar of Elephas (from the narrowness
of its plates I thought perhaps E. antiquus) taken from the Gravel
capping the chalk-cliff at Freshwater, I. Wight, close to the
" Battery." When I was last at Brook, I. Wight, a few years
since, nearly all of the bed under Gravel on cliff-top by the chine,
where I had formerly got hazel-nuts, &c., had disappeared by
foundering of cliff. The waste of cliffs on the S. coast of I.
Wight within my memory has been remarkable. A good in-
stance of this is Shepherd's Chine. When I first knew it, some
25 years ago, it was a narrow gulley crossed by a plank. At
its opening on the beach the E. side was a nearly vertical
cliff of blue shales with Septaria, that I used to dig and break up
— they occasionally yielded pterodactylian bones. Now the for-
merly narrow gulley is a wide open dell with sloping banks !

You refer to a former harbour-master at Kamsgate. There
was one who made quite a collection of elephants' tusks and
molars dredged up off the harbour, and I have myself seen E.
remains — notably an os innominatum, dug up at low tide after
heavy ground-swell, between Sandown Castle and No. 1 Battery.
As the chalk rock is there at no great depth, these remains may
have come out of rubble on its top under the present sand.

1 John Whitaker Hulke, F.K.S., President of the Eoyal College of
Surgeons ; born November 6, 1830 ; died February 19, 1896.

2 Notes on the JSlephas meridionalis at Dewlish, Dorset, have been pub-
lished by Mr Mansel-Pleydell, 'Proc. Dorset Nat. Hist. Club,' vol. x., 1889
p. 1 ; and vol. xiv., 1893, p. 139.

366 S. R. PATTISON. [1892.

I hope this fine spring weather is dispelling the depressing
influenza of the past winter. My wife joins in kind regards
to Mrs Prestwich and yourself. — Yours very truly,

J. W. HULKS.

S. R. Pattison 1 to J. Prestwich. KENSINGTON, 26th June [1892].

MY DEAR SIR, — I had begun, some time ago, to write to you
with reference to your very important paper on " Kaised Beaches "
in the ' Q. J.,' which settled many controversies and raised some
others. Your recent Koyal Society paper, which you were so
kind as to send to me, has given to every one the advantage of
your own fuller interpretation, and it is of such paramount im-
portance as to set aside for the moment my personal troubles.
I am reminded of one of the late Professor Phillips' last sayings
to me — "I believe, Pattison, after all, we shall be obliged to
bring back the Deluge." — I am, sincerely yours,

S. E. PATTISON.

When Professor Huxley was made a Privy Coun-
cillor the following humorous note from him was in
reply to our geologist's congratulations :—

BARMOUTH, Augst. 31, 1892.

MY DEAR PRESTWICH, — Best thanks for your congratulations.
As I have certainly got more than my temporal deserts, the
other " half " you speak of can be nothing less than a bishopric !
May you live to see that dignity conferred, and go on writing
such capital papers as the last you sent me until I write myself
your Eight Eevd. as well as Eight Honble. old friend,

T. H. HUXLEY.

J. Prestwich to B. Harrison.

DARENT-HULME, SHOREHAM, SEVENOAKS, 15th Novr. [1892].

DEAR SIR, — No explanation was necessary. Your collection
stands upon its merits. Differences of opinion there will always

1 S. B. Pattison, formerly of Launceston, and an early worker on the
geology of Cornwall and Devon ; for many years a member of the Council
of the Geological Society, and their honorary legal adviser.

MT. 80.] UNIFORMITARIANISM. 367

be. All you have to say is that Sir J. E. accepts some spec, but
rejects others. Let every one judge for himself. I am glad you
have ceased field-work for the winter.

J. Prestwich to Sir J. Evans. SHORBHAM, 2nd December 1892.

MY DEAR EVANS, — In the short glance at my paper the other
day you could hardly have formed an idea of its scope and object.
It is not, as you supposed, a paper of minute geological detail,
like my paper on the raised beaches, &c., in the ' Journal Geolog-
ical Society,' but it is a paper in which, following up that line of
research, I pass in review all that bears on the subject in South-
western Europe and on the Mediterranean coasts, and generalise
upon these observations, employing only so much detail as is
necessary to illustrate my hypothesis. The detailed papers to
which I refer would occupy volumes, and are within reach of the
reader. It is also a new departure, and, as such, comes, I think,
within the scope of the Eoyal Society rather than of the Geo-
logical Society, from the fact that it involves questions which
concern naturalists, physicists, and anthropologists. I am aware
that I must expect opposition, as it touches upon questions on
which geologists and physicists must differ. All I can wish for
is to have the facts fairly considered, and judgment formed on
them, and not on assumed postulates founded on very doubtful
bases. The votaries of uniformitarianism are, I fear, apt to
consider their doctrines as infallible, and to act accordingly. For
my own part, I believe that in another half century geologists
will wonder that a doctrine so unphilosophical was ever held.
Physicists, who pin their faith to a certain rigidity and thickness
of the earth's crust, should look to the geological facts before
putting geological opinion on one side. I am aware that my
hypothesis will appear startling, but if it explains all the facts
and apparently discordant phenomena, it surely deserves con-
sideration. As to the facts themselves, I presume I am not
saying too much when I claim for myself a better knowledge of
them than most geologists. I have decided, therefore, to send
my paper to the Eoyal Society. I have written a short abstract
for reading, and that you may see the scope of the paper I send it
for your perusal, if you will kindly devote a spare half hour to it.

368 PLEISTOCENE SUBMERGENCE. [1892-93.

But before reading I should like you to read the explanations
that have been suggested by others, and to which I have given,
I trust, impartial considerations in the paper referred to —
'Quarterly] J[ournal] Geological] Society,' vol. clviii. pp. 323-328.
You will, I think, see that none of them meet all the conditions
of the case, and most of them ignore the consequences which the
adoption of their views would involve. . . . — Ever yours
sincerely, JOSEPH PRESTWICH.

J. Prestwich to Sir J. Evans. igth Dec. 1892.

I have adopted your suggestion to omit reference to the
Deluge, and think you are right.1 It might have been supposed
that I was working up to that end, whereas I was brought to it
solely by the evidence, and you, no doubt, will remember that it
always struck me that there was something besides river, marine,
and ice action in the superficial phenomena. The [Philosophical]
'Transactions' have not been surcharged with Natural History
papers of late years.

The preceding letters allude to the great Submerg-
ence paper by Joseph Prestwich, " On the Evidences
of a Submergence of Western Europe, and of the Medi-
terranean Coasts, at the Close of the Glacial or so-called
Post - Glacial Period, and immediately preceding the
Neolithic or Recent Period." It was sent in to the
Royal Society on 15th December 1892, and was read
and published in the ' Philosophical Transactions ' in
1893. The substance of the following unfinished pre-
face was given in this paper ('Phil. Trans.,' pp. 980-
984) :-

I am aware that in proposing the hypothesis advanced in the
following paper it may be considered that I am taking a retro-

1 The subject was subsequently dealt with in a little work by Prestwich,
entitled ' On Certain Phenomena belonging to the close of the last Geologi-
cal Period, and on their bearing upon the Tradition of the Flood,' 1895
(Macmillan).

Mr. 80-81.] UNIFOKMITARIANISM. 369

grade step, that I am reviving an exploded doctrine, and that I
am ignoring the doctrine of uniformity, which now, it may be
urged, regulates geological progress. But I refuse to be judged
on such a basis. While admitting as a fundamental truth the
proposition of the identity of forces in present and past times, I
contend that the exhibition of these forces has been unequal in
degree. The contention for this uniformity is based solely upon
the value of man's personal evidence, and when the term of this
is compared with that term beyond which it does not extend,
the propositions are such as to render it comparatively valueless.
It is a limited terrestrial measure of distance compared to the
measure of our solar distance, and we can no more tell what may
have occurred beyond that term than we can tell what cosmical
phenomena may have occurred in the vast interval which
separates us from our luminary, except on the evidence of the
residual phenomena.

Half a century ago Dr Buckland, after considerable investiga-
tion, came to the conclusion that a deluge had passed over the
land, and that we had in our superficial deposits and the remains
of the entombed animals evidence of the fact. Sedgwick and
other distinguished men adopted the same view for a time, but it
was abandoned in consequence of other evidence of a conflicting
character subsequently brought forward. But, while abandoned
in this country, that opinion has held its ground on the Con-
tinent, and a nomenclature in accordance with that view has
been adopted for certain geological deposits, such as Diluvium
rouge, Diluvium gris, and Alluvium ancienne.

As may be seen from his letters, Joseph Prestwich
held strong anti-uniformitarian views, and yet he could
not be classed as a catastrophist in the old sense of the
word. Always at work, the autumn of 1893 found
him occupied in writing a magazine article, " On the
Position of Geology (a Chapter on Uniformitarianism)."
This appeared in the ' Nineteenth Century ' for October,
and the two following notes to his friend the Rev. O.
Fisher have reference to it. It was a declaration of

2 A

370 GLACIAL DRIFTS. [1893.

his non-uniformitarian belief, a profession of his geo-
logical creed.

It may be remarked that while Prestwich had pub-
lished very fully his observations on the Tertiary forma-
tions and on the Quaternary strata, which immediately
preceded and succeeded the Glacial deposits, yet he
had not dealt in a similarly comprehensive manner with
his observations on the Glacial Drifts. It is true that
in many of his papers he had published sections of
Boulder Clay and Glacial Gravel, and he contributed
much information with respect to them. Nevertheless
his views generally on the formation of the Boulder Clays
and associated deposits were not given to the public
in the same exhaustive manner as were those dealing
with the Eocene and Oligocene strata, the Crag series,
the Westleton Beds, and the later Pleistocene accumula-
tions. His note-books show how he had followed the
Glacial Drifts far and wide, not only in the Southern
and Midland counties, but in Wales, in the north of
England, in Scotland and Ireland. Indications of his
views are given in the second volume of his great
treatise on * Geology/ wherein he remarks (p. 453) :
" Equally marvellous is the glaciation of the northern
counties of England. There also only a few of the
higher hills escaped the grasp of the great ice-sheet,
the marks of which are perceptible up to heights of
about 2500 feet in the Lake district. As the land-
ice travelled southward it became thinner, and its
traces are gradually lost. The Glacial Drift-beds die
out on the hills immediately north of London, whence
their boundary passes by Oxford to South Wales."
These views show how inclined he was to maintain
that the main mass of Boulder Clay was the product

JET. 81.] GLACIATION. 371

of land-ice, although he argued that "the phenomena,
as a whole, go to show that the glaciation of Great
Britain was not due to a great Polar ice-cap, but was
of local and independent origin."

That Prestwich cherished the idea of publishing in
detail his views on the Great Ice Age is evident from
a tabular statement drawn up in 1892, which gives a
scheme for a paper " On the Glacial Series of the South
of England." 1 This task, however, he did not live to
accomplish, and the notes remain without the master-
hand to mould them into shape, and to decipher the
story which they might reveal.

With the return of Easter his thoughts as usual
were with his brother geologists, and he followed all
their movements. In a note dated 6th April he ob-
serves : "I am glad to hear of the Easter excursions
continued under such pleasant conditions, but do not
approve of the introduction of that relaxing element,
fishing. Why, we sometimes had not time to eat fish,
much less catch them. Our vicar's little girl picked up
a fine flint implement on the beach near Boscombe."

Although Prestwich had at an early date made
several journeys with his usual companion to Ightham
and to other of Mr Harrison's recently found flint-
bearing sites, a long list lies before us of joint visits
made with their discoverer and other enthusiastic
explorers to the ground where rude implements had
been found, beginning with a first joint visit to Igh-
tham and Oldbury, in September 1881, with his friend
Fisher. On to 1893 no year passed without frequent
and repeated expeditions, when Prestwich was accom-

1 The scheme has been printed in the ' Geological Magazine,' Dec. IV.,
vol. v. p. 404.

372 IGHTHAM. [1893.

panied by fellow-geologists to these sites, occasionally
Mr Topley being his companion, and occasionally Sir
John Evans. Latterly Professor Rupert Jones and
the Rev. R. Ashington Bullen went with him to review
new ground, Mr Harrison being seldom absent from
any working party.

The discovery by Mr W. J. Lewis Abbott, F.G.S.,1
of ossiferous fissures in the valley of the Shode, near
Ightham, was naturally of great interest to Prestwich ;
and his friend Mr Abbott did not fail to carry to Darent-
Hulme the spoils from the fissures for our geologist's
examination. They included many mammalian remains,
as well as those of birds, reptiles, &c., the small bones
of rodents being innumerable. The last visit made by
Prestwich to these fissures was in 1893, when he was
accompanied by Mr Abbott and Mr Harrison.

J. Prestwich to Rev. 0. Fisher.

DARENT-HULME, SHOREHAM, 12th August 1893.

MY DEAE FISHER, — I am very much obliged to you for the
corrections you have made in my MS. With two or three
exceptions, I have gladly availed myself of them all. "What,
however, I particularly wanted your opinion about is whether
I have put correctly the opinions of such physicists as Lord
Kelvin, Tait, and [G. H.] Darwin. Am I right in saying their
estimate of the earth's age is now from fifteen to twenty million
years (I know it has varied greatly), and the thickness of the
crust from 1000 to 2500 miles?

I wish I could have gone more fully into the subject, but I
suppose a magazine would not care for too long an article. . . .

1 The Ossiferous Fissures in the Valley of the Shode, near Ightham,
Kent. By W. J. Lewis Abbott, F.G.S. ; Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., 1894,
vol. 1. p. 171. The Vertebrate Fauna collected by Mr Lewis Abbott from
the Fissure near Ightham, Kent. By E. T. Newton, F.K.S., F.G.S. ; ibid.,
p. 188.

Ml. 81.] UNIFORMITARIANISM. 373

To the Same. DARENT-HULME, SHOREHAM, 24th August 1893.

MY DEAR FISHER, — Thanks for your note and references. Lord
Kelvin's correction in his address at Glasgow, 1876, refers only to
Hopkins's argument about precession and nutation, and does not,
it seems to me, affect his previous opinions about the rigidity and
great thickness of the crust. Sir A. Geikie gives the thickness
as stated by him in 1862. You see I am not touching on the
general question, but merely giving what seems to be the opinion
held by Kelvin and Tait as to the approximate thickness of the
crust — 1000 would do for me just as well as 2000.

J. Prestwich to J. Evans.

DARENT-HULME, SHOREHAM, 13th September [1893].

MY DEAR EVANS, — A few days since we went to West Yoke
(460'), near Ash. There is a very remarkable spread of much
worn gravel there, with a considerable number of the rudest
possible worked flints and one good pointed form. I am more
satisfied than ever of the great antiquity of the Chalk plateau
specimens. Next week I hope to visit the several new localities
discovered by Mr Crawshay. In one of these of doubtful posi-
tion he has found 46 specimens. With very much sympathy,

J. PRESTWICH.

The following letter has reference to the ' Nineteenth
Century ' article :—

J. Prestwich to the Same. DARENT-HULME, 22nd October 1893.

MY DEAR EVANS, — The very foundation of uniformitarian be-
liefs is that these terrestrial forces have been alike as now, both
in kind and degree, in all past times, and all their calculations of
time and denudation have been made on that basis. If you can
show any calculations made on a different basis, either in text-
books or papers, I shall be glad: I know of none.

The only exception made has been in favour of volcanic action.
But any child could see that volcanic action is spasmodic, and has
always been so. But even here the argument is inapplicable.

3*74 THE FLOOD. [1894.

The energy, so far from being on a par with the present, is, I be-
lieve, in the cases of such eruptions as Krakatoa, greater now
than formerly, as I have shown in ' Geology.'

My chronology may possibly err a little on one side (for the
dates are not sufficiently definite), but that of the uniformitarian
errs, I am satisfied, much more than the other. But this does
not touch the essential points of argument. I wish I could
write longer and more clearly, but this is one of my bad
days. . . .

Sir H. D. Acland to J. Prestwich. OXFORD, Jan. 15, 1894.

Alas ! most forgiving of friends, I cannot lay my hand on the
beautiful envelope directed to you at midsummer, and carried to
and fro per mare per terram, and not fit to send. . . . Everything
here is in restless movement with new-comers, and old ones who
take up questions new to them ; and I get disheartened at seeing
things knocked down from sheer want of knowing — would you
were still with us !

The Home 1 for which you did so much is become a model in-
stitution for good and useful work, wisely devised and conducted,
but it needs endowment. . . . God bless you both ! Your affec-
tionate and grateful friend, H. D. ACLAND.

It will have been apparent to the reader that in
amassing the evidence for his Submergence paper,
Joseph Prestwich, without having it in view, was
struck by the fact that his theory of a wide-spread
submergence upheld the Biblical record of the Flood.
Once that the idea dawned upon him he was fascinated,
and sought out all the physical evidence that could be
adduced in support of it. Early in 1894 he sent in a
paper on the subject to the Victoria Institute, entitled,
" A Possible Cause for the Origin of the Tradition of the
Flood," which, as he was unable to be present, was read
by his old friend Professor Rupert Jones, F.R.S. It

1 The Acland Memorial Home for Nurses, Oxford.

VET. 82.] PLATEAU IMPLEMENTS. 375

was well received, giving rise to an interesting discus-
sion, and was published in the ' Journal of Transactions
of the Victoria Institute ' for that year. Its hearty
reception tempted him to write a resume of all the
geological evidence bearing on " The Tradition of the
Flood," and the preparation of this booklet, which did
not appear until early in the next year, was meanwhile
a pleasant and interesting occupation.

J. Prestwick to B. Harrison.

DARENT-HULME, SHOREHAM, SEVENOAKS, 15th August 1894.

DEAR SIR, — Thanks for the copy of your Address, which has
interested us both. It might, however, be supposed from it that
the geologists were deterred by the height and position. That
was hardly the case. It was whether they were worked. I fear
you were ill - advised in your selection for the Koy. Soc. It
was only the other day that a leading geologist wrote to me say-
ing, "The [your] plateau types selected were very large and
rough, and not the most typical ones, like those figured " (in
Collected Papers). . . .

You could not have done better than to refer to Well Hill. It
is a remarkable spot, which I first visited and [where I] found the
chert fragments some 40 years ago, and took Sir J. Lubbock
there, who afterwards described it. You should have told your
inquirer who asked you why you did not at first write about
the plateau implements, that long ago I asked you whether you
would not do so. ...

H. P. Blackmore to J. Prestwich. SALISBURY, 27th August 1894.

DEAR MR PRESTWICH, — Ever since I heard of the discovery of
the plateau type of implement I have been hunting this district
for evidence, and have been fortunate in finding plenty to satisfy
myself. The main object now is to convince others, and I hope
to string the facts of this neighbourhood together shortly, to
help the evidence in other parts of England.

As this district was of great use 30 years ago in establishing

376 ALDERBURY. [l894.

the presence of man in the river Drift period, so now in what an
Irishman would call the advance backwards, Salisbury will prove
equally strong, and I trust furnish good evidence to convince
some of the sceptics, who don't know what a worked flint is, even
when they see it before them.

As far as the fact of the discovery of worked flints in the
southern Drift of Alderbury is concerned, make any use you like
of the information.

What do you think of the evidence of fire ? For the last 20
years I have been hunting in our Drift Gravels for it, but the
specimen from Alderbury is the first that has yet turned up.
Have you been more fortunate and met with burnt flints in any
Drift Gravels under such circumstances that precluded the pos-
sibility of their having come from the surface ?

Amongst the gravel at Alderbury I have met with a few
small pebbles — sea-rolled pebbles, of sarsen stone — quite distinct
as regards rolling from the ordinary large sarsen boulders.
What old sea-shore do you think they probably came from ?
The much smaller quartz pebbles are very, very scarce at Aider-
bury. With kind regards, yours very truly,

H. P. BLACKMORE.

But, alas ! Prestwich had soon again to pay the
penalty of age, in seeing one after another of those he
loved called away before him. The death of his sister,
Mrs Russell Scott, to whom throughout life he had been
tenderly attached, occurred in August. She was the
little sister whom her brother (not two years her senior)
used to escort out on Saturdays when the two children
were at their respective schools in Paris. In many
respects she resembled him, in that quick intelligence
and wide grasp of mind so unusual in a woman : it was
rare to meet any one so gifted, who at the same time
possessed extraordinary sweetness of temper. Her
illness had been hopeless and protracted, yet when the
end came his distress was not less poignant. " No

Photo by Adams £-> Milliard, Southampton.

PROFESSOR T. RUPERT JONES, F.R.S.

MS. 82.] PROFESSOR T. RUPERT JONES. 377

one knows how much she was to me in early life," was
his remark in a note to a friend. Thus for a time
the serene happiness of his home was overclouded.

In the autumn of 1894, under Prestwich's personal
supervision, Professor Rupert Jones prepared a paper,
with diagrams, treating of the plateau implements,
their position below the surface, and the derivation of
the gravelly deposits in which they occur, from the
Chalk capping the Wealden area when it existed as
part of a range at least 2000 feet high. This paper
was read before a combined meeting of the Anthropo-
logical and Geological sections of the British Association
on August 10, 1894, and published in ' Natural Science/
vol. v. pp. 269-275. In it occurs the appropriate
remark that " it must have been a great pleasure to
the veteran geologist, Professor Dr Prestwich, to find
that his conclusions (in 1890) as to the Pliocene
Tertiaries and Gravels on the flanks of the diminishing
island of the Weald fitted so truly, as consecutive
history, with his early views (1847) of the probable
conditions of the Wealden dome in Eocene times."

The letter from Canon Greenwell, a leading author-
ity on the subject of flint implements, gives his opinion
of the plateau implements :—

Canon Greenwell to J. Prestwich. DURHAM, 29th Sept. 1894.

MY DEAR SIR, — I am obliged for your paper on the " Flints of
the Chalk Plateau," which 1 read when it appeared in the Jour-
nal. I have no objection to your using my name in the reissue
as a believer in the manufacture, by some reasoning creature, of
the flints in question.

With regard to when they were made, though, so far as I can
judge, from the observation of others, they appear to belong to
a time anterior to that which produced the ordinary Drift im-

378 CANON GREEN WELL. [1894.

plements, I am unable to express an opinion from personal
knowledge of the sites, &c.

But that they have been made with intention I cannot have
the least doubt, for I know of no natural agency which has, or
indeed could, produce the signs of work so abundantly shown
upon them.

I hope some time next year to have an opportunity of seeing
the places near Sevenoaks where they have been found. Yours
very faithfully, W. GREEN WELL.

The following letter from Mr Gladstone is too inter-
esting to be omitted : —

W. E. Gladstone to J. Prestivich.

HAWARDEN CASTLE, CHESTER, 2nd Oct. 1894.

MY DEAR SIR, — I thank you very much for the interesting
and able Address you have done me the honour to send me, and
I desire respectfully as well as sympathetically to mention a
circumstance which has long appeared to me worthy of some
notice, and which may have a relation to your doctrine of a
larger and late submergence.

I am in no way competent to touch the relation of that doc-
trine to the tradition of the Noachian deluge.

And it may seem daring for one who speaks from a standing
ground supplied by literature, to attempt joining hands with the
geologist across the gap which severs him from history and pre-
history as commonly understood.

My fact is this : Homer was (in my confident opinion, dictated
to me by study of the text) possessed of, and thoroughly pos-
sessed by, a tradition, evidently the tradition of his day and
people, according to which there lay to the north of the Thracian
and Thessalian mountains an open sea ; and by this open sea
lay, for him, the communication from Western Greece nomin-
atim from Ithaca, with an Underworld to which the approach
was situated in the East, and was by his great river Okeanos
(in his ideas of which river were probably mixed together vague
notices of the Black Sea and Sea of Azof, the Caspian, and the

JET. 82.] W. E. GLADSTONE. 379

Persian Gulf). Of the Danube he knew nothing; but he be-
lieved in certain inhabited tracts, which he enumerates, to the
northward of the Thracian mountains.

This purely literary fact has led me often, and from perhaps
twenty or thirty years back, to inquire from geological friends,
who have assured rne, as you do, that Central Europe was at a
very late geologic period under water.

It was not for me to consider how this tradition stood related
to the mountains (of no very great elevation, I think) which
sever Central Europe from the Adriatic.

I do not attempt to enter here upon the proof of my Homeric
fact, which I think conclusive. But I may mention — is it relevant
or not ? — that the Duke of Argyll told me he saw exposed in the
fish-markets of Venice sea-fauna (if the phrase may be used)
not appearing in the Mediterranean generally, but familiar to
him in Argyllshire on the coast of the Atlantic.

Your submergence helps me, because it is south as well as
north of the mountains which I named.

Your supposition of the escape of a part of the local popula-
tion leaves room for the transmission of a geological or Quater-
nary phenomenon down to (what we call) prehistoric times.

There is a kind of sister tradition, that of the Atlantis ; but
here it is the ghost of a tradition, for I know of no period in
which the Atlantis was the subject of a living popular belief.

I apologise for this intrusion, which you will see is intended
in a sympathetic sense. I remain, my dear sir, with much re-
spect, faithfully yours, W. E. GLADSTONE.

From the Same. HAWARDEN CASTLE, CHESTER.

MY DEAE SIR, — One word by way of supplement. What you
say of your submergence in no way I think conflicts with the
idea that it may have had to do with Homer's European sea.
That idea may be compounded of the traditions of several sub-
mergences, which (traditions) had coalesced into one, just as
I think it almost certain that the Homeric notion of a great cir-
cumfluent river Okeanos was made up from partial notices of
Eastern (as well as Western) water at the Straits of Yenikale, in
the Caspian, and in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea. These

380 KOYAL ACADEMY OF THE LINCEI. [1894-95.

things may appear strange ; but we have to familiarise ourselves
with the position of a race and a poet having extremely narrow
maritime experience, and no view or idea of extraneous waters
except from very miscellaneous report. Yours very faithfully,

W. E. GLADSTONE.

A very affectionate letter from Professor Capellini,
the distinguished geologist, Rector of the University
of Bologna, dated 15th October 1894, informed Joseph
Prestwich of his having been elected a corresponding
member of the Royal Academy of the Lincei of Rome.
The distinction of belonging to this great society was
especially prized. Professor Capellini informed the new
member that his election had been carried by a " splen-
dide votation" and reminded him that it was the greatest
honour in the power of the savants of Italy to bestow.

Again at this date are frequent notes addressed to
the discoverer of the plateau implements. Mr Harri-
son was encouraged to persevere, and it was impressed
upon him not to be disappointed should these flint im-
plements not be universally recognised at once. Joseph
Prestwich had more than once fought a battle single-
handed, and in the end had always come off victorious.
In a note to Mr Harrison of 30th October, he repeats :
" I have never had, nor have I now, the slightest doubt
about the age and character of the plateau implements.
As I have told you all along, it is only a question of
time."

J. Prestwich to Professor Jules Marcou.

DARENT-HULME, SHOREHAM, IQth December 1894.

MY DEAR M. MARCOU, — Your kind letter of October last
found me in bed, where I had to remain a month, owing to one
of my attacks. I am down again now, but not yet allowed to go
out. I, however, go on with my work. Your account of the
Indian traditions of a flood is very interesting, but seems, from

yET. 82-83.] GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF FRANCE. 381

what you say, to refer to a more recent date than that of Western
Europe. I am glad to know about the ossiferous fissures of
Salins. That falls in with my paper.

It is, I admit, a difficult point to account for the absence of
marine remains ; but, besides the short duration of the flood, it
is to be remembered that the breaking up of the vegetable soil
by the advancing waters would render them so turbid that, like
with the estuaries of the West African rivers in flood, the waters
would be deoxidised and destructive to animal life. Further,
any marine life carried inland by the waters would be dropped
on the surface and subsequently destroyed by atmospheric in-
fluences. Mrs Prestwich joins me in very kind regards, and I
am, dear M. Marcou, ever sincerely yours,

JOSEPH PRESTWICH.

In January 1895 Joseph Prestwich had the gratifica-
tion of receiving another testimony of the estimation in
which his geological work was held abroad — perhaps in
greater estimation abroad than at home. This was his
election as one of the Vice-Presidents of the Geological
Society of France, he being the first Englishman selected
for this honour. It cheered the veteran, then about to
complete his eighty- third year, to receive this proof of
the constant affection and esteem of his confreres in
France.

J. Prestwich to M. Albert Gaudry. LONDON, 14<A January 1895.

Mr DEAR M. GAUDRY, — Many thanks for your letter of con-
gratulation. I can assure you that I feel very much flattered by
the honour done me by the Geological Society of France in electing
me one of their Vice-Presidents. My connection with my French
colleagues has ever been to me a source of very great pleasure,
and I have profited much by my studies on French ground. My
views on many geological questions are also more in harmony
with those prevailing on your side of the water. We are too
much tied down here by extreme uniformitarianisin. Let me
thank you also for the copy of your paper, on the curious new

382 PLATEAU IMPLEMENTS. [l895.

reptile, you lately sent me. When you next see M. Daubre'e,
kindly remember me to him. We are staying here for the
winter, as we find Shoreham too cold. We are both confined
to the house, but I am much better than I was last year. Mrs
Prestwich sends her kind regards, and believe me to be, my dear
M. Gaudry, yours very sincerely and attached,

JOSEPH PRESTWICH.

J. Prestwich to Sir J. Evans. LONDON, 2nd February 1895.

MY DEAR EVANS, — ... I am writing a magazine article on
the Plateau Implements, in which I wage war against all the
Oxford critics, including yourself. I have finished my " Collected
Papers," and have another Flood Tradition paper in hand, so we
have plenty of occupation during our confinement by cold and
snow. . . .

I do not think Skertchly's hypothesis will supersede Richt-
hofen's.1 Why should the Loess shells be destroyed in China
when so many are preserved in Europe ? . . .

J. Prestwich to B. Harrison. LONDON, 15th March [1895].

DEAR SIR, — Thanks for the sight of the specimen. It is quite
immaterial whether it came from the South or the East Coast.
The essential is that it is a shore specimen. It certainly
simulates closely some of the plateau specimens, but it is in fact
merely a naturally split pebble of which the outer edges are worn
by sea-action. As I have pointed out, some of the plateau speci-
mens are so made that it is difficult to draw the line between
Nature and Art. But it is of no use taking such specimens
as evidence on either side. What is wanted are well-defined
types, of which the characters are positive and not negative. Let
the sea -action advocates show specimens of the [three] types,
and then we [shall] attend to their argument. There are many
natural flints which simulate the palaeolithic implements, but
they prove nothing. To discuss them is only waste of time.
My doctor forbids again my return home for the present, and I
am, yours very truly, JOSEPH PRESTWICH.

1 Paper by Skertchly and Kingsmill, in Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. li.
p. 238.

JET. 83.] GEOLOGICAL PUBLICATIONS. 383

J. Prestwich to Rev. 0. Fisher.

21 HARBWOOD SQUARE, 19th March 1895.

MY DEAE FISHER, — How have you been all this severe winter,
and how are all your sons ?

We have been spending the winter with my niece Miss Scott,
but intend returning home on Friday next. Both of us have
weathered the winter well, though it has kept me a prisoner in-
doors for the greater part of the time. My sisters-in-law are
away at Cannes, and will be away till the end of July. You
have of course heard of the death of poor Hulke. It was a great
shock to us all, and he will be greatly missed. Evans takes his
place as foreign secretary. What are you at work on now ? I
have been busy in putting some of my old papers together as
" Collected Papers." There will be nothing new to you in them,
as you had the separate copies as they came out. I have also a
paper for the unbelievers coming out in the ' Nineteenth Century '
magazine. I fear that we shall find damage done to our shrubs
and trees. I hope your roses have not suffered too much. Mrs
Prestwich desires her very kind regards ; and believe me to be
very sincerely yours, JOSEPH PEESTWICH.

While yet early in the year, four publications ap-
peared from the pen which had been in such constant
use, and which was soon to be laid aside for ever.
One was 'The Tradition of the Flood/ to which
attention has already been directed. The next was
the volume of ' Collected Papers on some Controverted
Questions of Geology/ which made subjects under dis-
cussion readily accessible to the reading public. A
reissue, with additions by the author, of the ' Water-
bearing Strata of the Country around London, &c./
was also published, it having regard chiefly to the
water-supply of the great city. The fourth publication
was an article in the April number of the ' Nineteenth
Century ' magazine, " On the Greater Antiquity of
Man.7' In this the author traced the changes of

384 DUKE OF ARGYLL. [l895.

•

opinion that had taken place within the last half-
century respecting the age of man on the earth : it was
a piece of close reasoning, difficult to gainsay, on the
geological age of the plateau implements. The words
in which he summed up were : " No traces of older man
have been met with on our land, and though elsewhere
instances have been recorded, they have either proved
mistaken or else require confirmation. Of one thing I
feel satisfied, which is that in no other instance do the
phenomena exhibit so well as in this part of Kent — the
successive geological stages bearing upon human occu-
pation of the land, and so clearly help to establish the
Greater Antiquity of Early Man."

The next letter is one from the Duke of Argyll,
followed by its answer :—

The Duke of Argyll to J. Prestwich.

INVERARY, April 1, 1895.

MY DEAR MR PRESTWICH, — I have been reading with great
interest your article on the Antiquity of Man. I have no diffi-
culty about your conclusions as to the human origin of the
flints, nor, of course, about the great submergence which is in-
volved in the whole of your explanation, for this agrees with
my own conclusions from glacial phenomena in this country.

But there are points connected with time which are not clear
to me. You assume that all the existing valleys have been
excavated since the high-level Gravels were deposited.

Is this quite certain ? I don't know how it is to be proved.
Certainly here the existing contours must have been in the main
the same as now before the submergence. All the phenomena
point to the ridges of existing hills having been shoals and reefs
in the Glaciation sea, and to the existence of valleys as having
guided the rock-bearing floe-ice.

Of course in the re-emergence of the land there must have been
a tremendous " scour " from rushing waters, and this may have

MT. 83.] PLATEAU IMPLEMENTS. 385

effected a considerable amount of excavation. But in our hard
and crystalline rocks whole valleys cannot have been thus
formed, and all evidence is against it.

The Chalk and Wealden and Greensand beds of the south of
England would no doubt yield much more rapidly to the scour
of surging waters. But if the high levels were so scoured, how
comes it that the very old weapons were not all washed down
into the new valleys?

Excuse my scepticism. But I want to know exactly the
data on which time is calculated as necessary to account for
the facts.

To me the main interest lies in the conclusion that a great
marine submergence, comparatively rapid and transient, has
taken place since man appeared. I don't care about the
number of years ago. But any immense antiquity does not
seem to me to be at all proved. — Yours very truly,

AEGYLL.

J. Prestwich to the Duke of Argyll.

DARBNT-HULME, SHOREHAM, 14th April 1895.

DEAR DUKE OF ARGYLL, — Pray excuse the delay in my answer
to your letter of the 1st instant. On referring to my article in
the 'Nineteenth Century,' I fear that I was not sufficiently
explicit in limiting my observations to the Kentish area.

I entirely accept your interpretation of the valleys in Scot-
land. They must be of far higher antiquity. My observations
were intended to apply to such valleys as those of the Medway,
Holmesdale, and in part to that of the Thames.

The reason why the old implements on the plateau were not
all washed down during the re -elevation of the land arose, I
think, from the fact that the re - elevation was slow, so that
the scour on the high flat table - land was slight ; but when
the effluent currents became centred in the narrow intersecting
valleys, the rapidity of the current and its scouring became
largely increased.

Nevertheless, portions of the Drift a — which contains the
plateau implements — were denuded and worn; and derived
plateau implements are found in the reconstructed Drift I. In
this district we have no beds older than a, and no valleys

2 B

386 THE REV. R. A. BULLEN. [i895.

older than A, which are newer than a, and cannot therefore
be older than early Glacial, or may be Pre-Glacial. There is
a limit also to the age of a, inasmuch as it overlies in place
a crag of Diestian age.

I have gone more fully into the Submergence question and
some of its effects in a paper which is just passing through my
hands, and will be published by Macmillan.

In the meantime, it will be a pleasure to me to answer any
other questions that may arise ; and I am very truly yours,

JOSEPH PRESTWICH.

It had become an established practice with the Rev.
Ashington Bullen, the Vicar of Shoreham, when absent
at the sea-side for a brief holiday, to prosecute inquiries
for the veteran. The following letter refers to a visit
paid by Mr JBullen to Bournemouth :—

J. Prestwich to the Rev. R. A. JBullen.

DARENT-HULME, 24th May 1895.

DEAR MR BULLEN, — Thanks for notes and particulars. Do
not, however, trouble about mineral and structural particulars of
the Gravels. I have them all in my note-books. All that is
wanted is to supplement them by two inquiries : —

1. Do any implements of the plateau type occur in the high-
level Gravels, such as St Catherine's Hill ?

2. Do any fluviatile shells occur in the Gravel referred to the
Old Solent river ?

These questions were not mooted when I last worked in the
district. Besides St Catherine's Hill you will find the high-level
Gravels on Canon Hill and Hampreston Heath, on the N.E.

2BT. 83.] TRADITION OF THE FLOOD. 38*7

of Wimborne, and on the high ground E. and N.E. of Ford-
ingbridge. Probably they are best developed on the hills
between Lyndhurst and Salisbury. The Gravel on St Catherine's
Hill does not belong to the Old Solent. The latter forms the
extensive beds of Gravel on the cliffs between Poole Harbour and
Lymington. I shall be glad to see the specimens of flint imple-
ments you have found at St Catherine's Hill, or hear further
about the Solent Gravels; and I am most truly yours,

JOSEPH PRESTWICH.

Another letter of interest from Mr Gladstone, dis-
cussing the ' Tradition of the Flood,' is given here. He
had written on June 9, 1895, to Sir Henry Acland : "It
was a great honour, as I thought, to receive Mr Prest-
wich's book, and I have put it up for careful perusal
on the voyage. One curious thing is the way in which
the Deluge connects itself with the unity of the entire
present family of man."

W. E. Gladstone to J. Prestwich.

TANTALLON CASTLE, OFF KIEL, 20th June 1895.

MY DEAR SIR, — I have read with great interest the work which
you did me the honour and kindness of sending me.

The perusal of it leaves behind a lively hope that Geology may
ere long invade the regions of the Noachian tradition, and enable
you and others similarly endowed to learn whether Nature in
those regions tells a tale in any way analogous to that which you
have unfolded. I am not sure whether I have apprehended ac-
curately your remarks on the Accadian tradition of the Flood. It
is indeed of the utmost value and importance. But I cannot
agree with those who treat it as the original record, and the
Hebrew account as one altered and adopted from it. To me both
of them are secondary forms, based upon an older and original
record. I am able to follow a number of particulars in which
the record on the tablets appears to present marks of a nearer
approach (as I understand) to historic truth. But there are two
points in which the Biblical account appears not only to be

388 NATURE AND ART. [l895.

superior, but superior in a mode indicating nearer resemblance to
the primitive record, which may be unknown to us. One is that
it is absolutely monotheistic, and the other is its representation
of the Deluge as a judgment for sin. If, as some critics tell us,
the Biblical text is not simple, but compounded of two separate
narratives, this is all the more remarkable. Viewed severally
and with regard to the education or evolution of man, the Chal-
dean record naturally exhibits the inferiority belonging to a state
of opinion debased by the innovations of polytheism. — Believe
me, my dear sir, very faithfully yours, W. E. GLADSTONE.

J. Prestwidi to Sir J. Evans.

DARENT-HULME, SHOREHAM, 6th July 1895.

MY DEAR EVANS, — Your suggestion that some of the plateau
implements might have been formed by sea l action had become
so widely accepted by many geologists and by most anthropol-
ogists— the latter of whom have probably never been in a gravel -
pit in their lives — that I have been moved to write a letter to the
' Geological Magazine ' expressing my dissent. It is in general
terms, and your name in the matter is not mentioned. I can
send you a proof before its publication in August if you should
wish, for any suggestions. We both continue fairly well, although
I had a bad turn ten days ago, which has obliged me to keep
much to the sofa. What a loss the world of science has experi-
enced in the death of Huxley ! I had known him ever since his
return from his voyage. It is a strange memorial that has been
suggested. I hope there will be a better one. . . . — I am,
ever sincerely yours, JOSEPH PEESTWICH.

The letter to which reference is made was addressed
to the Editor of the ' Geological Magazine,' being headed
" Nature and Art," and was published in the August
number. A pathetic interest attaches to it, since it

1 Sir John Evans says that the use of the word " sea " in this letter was a
mistake. Though he attributes the chipping and bruising of the edges of
the flints in question to the turbulent action of water, he never invoked
marine action.

JET. 83.] A CHALLENGE. 389

was the last appearance in public of any communication
from Joseph Prestwich. His first memoir, when a
young, hard - working City man, had been read to
the Geological Society in 1834 : now, after a splendid
record of sixty-one years' continuous original work, his
pen for the public was laid aside.

In the letter to the ' Geological Magazine ' he re-
futes the theory of the flint implements from the
Chalk plateau of Kent having been formed by natural
agencies, and observes : " Had it been possible for sea-
or river-action to have produced such forms as those
I have figured in Plates V. to IX. of ' Collected Papers,'
they should be found in all such shingle of whatsoever
age. None are forthcoming." He repeats a former
challenge : " [I] am ready to exchange the two volumes
of ' Geology ' with any young (or old) dissentient, for
half-a-dozen shore flints (not derived) of any of the
plateau types figured in the five plates above named."
No one has come forward or has accepted the chal-
lenge. Time will adjudge the verdict, and of it we
are not doubtful.

This imperfect sketch of the life of Joseph Prestwich
would be still more incomplete without special reference
to the affectionate relations which were maintained
between him and geologists abroad, more particularly
with those in France and Belgium. These friendships
were not those of a year or so, or a score of years, but
were life-enduring. His position as an Englishman of
science among French savants was through a long series
of years probably unique. In the files of letters from
Gaudry, Daubree, Hebert, and other distinguished
members of the Institute, we find Joseph Prestwich
repeatedly addressed by the first-named as " Mon cher
maitre" "Cher et illustre confrere"; Deshayes wrote

390 DAUBRiE. [1895.

to him usually as " Mon cher et bon Mr Prestwich"
and Desnoyers as "Monsieur et tres honore confrere."
Letters from Capellini, the eminent Italian geologist,
were couched in still warmer terms, and many simi-
larly inscribed might be quoted from MM. de Rouville,
de Vibraye, Boule, Dewalque, &c. Prestwich and
Edouard Lartet were on terms of the highest mutual
regard. One note from a French academician is given
as an example of those delightful letters from France.
It is dated less than a year before the end.

M. A. Daulrte to J. Prestwich. PARIS, le 13 Juillet 1895.

CHEK PRESTWICH, — C'est toujours un bonheur pour moi de
recevoir une marque de votre affectueux souvenir et en meme
temps de constater que vous continuez une activite" juvenile.

Aussi, avant d'avoir completement acheve* de lire vos argu-
ments inge'nieux et inattendus relatifs a I'interessante question
du cttluge, je desire vous adresser mes vifs remer elements, aussi
que mes sinceres felicitations. Comme votre carriere a e*te* bien
remplie, et malgre* le prix de votre temps, vous vous 6tes tou-
jours montre* d'une incomparable obligeance; ce sont des sou-
venirs que je apprecie d'autant plus que j'avance en age.

J'espere que votre activite est la preuve d'une sante vigoureuse.

De mon cote", je n'ai pas a me plaindre de ma sant^, malgre le
malheur qui m'a frappe" il y a cinq mois, par la perte de ma chere
femme.

Croyez toujours, cher Prestwich, a mes sentiments bien affec-
tueux et devours, A. DAUBREE.

Letters from old Oxford students were received from
time to time, and gave him keen pleasure. One, to
whom he was much attached, was Professor T. W.
Edgeworth David, known for his researches in the
coal-fields of New South Wales, and for his recent
investigations of coral islands, and who now fills the
Chair of Geology in the University of Sydney. In

JET. 83.] GEOLOGICAL PUPILS. 391

September 1892 Professor E. David wrote to his "dear
master " : " Allow me to take this opportunity of thank-
ing you again most sincerely, not only for the very
cordial assistance which you rendered me in securing
my present appointment, but also for your great kind-
ness to me at Oxford, and the interest in geology and
first grasp of its true principles which your lectures
and field excursions at Oxford afforded me. I hope
that my subsequent work will not discredit your early
teaching."

Another student with whom he kept in touch was a
Balliol man, now Professor A. P. W. Thomas of Auck-
land University, New Zealand. Mr C. L. Barnes,
author of the * Rock History ' of the earth, was an
attached pupil, who wrote to him — and not in vain —
for advice and criticism. Another was the Rev. John
Hawwell of Ingleby Vicarage, Northallerton, whom he
encouraged to persevere in his work among the boulders
of Yorkshire. About a year ago the writer of this
memoir received a letter from Mr Hawwell, saying,
" The one [letter] written to me when T was in the
Radcliffe Infirmary, suffering from an attack of diph-
theria, to which I fell a victim while undergoing ex-
amination for the Burdett-Coutts Scholarship, particu-
larly illustrates the kindness of his disposition, of which
I have so vivid and reverent a recollection." Among
other old pupils may be mentioned Mr F. A. Bather,
of the Geological Department, British Museum, who is
distinguished for his researches on the fossil Crinoidea.

392

CHAPTER XII.

1895-1896.
LAST DAYS.

THE quiet semi-invalid life which had crept on Joseph
Prestwich almost unawares was nevertheless a very
happy time. It continued to be his practice to walk
out a little in the garden before breakfast so as to
breathe the morning air and have a look at the vane,
always bringing in a rose or pink, or a handful of sweet-
scented flowers. Any lady guest found a rose by her
breakfast plate, or, when flowers were not within reach,
sprays of his favourite lavender took their place, several
plants of it being grown near the house so as to be
accessible for cutting. The old routine was maintained :
after reading the morning papers he adjourned to the
library, when longingly he looked at his books and
portfolios of MS., which he had been forbidden to touch.
Replies to letters and notes were the first occupation,
being dashed off in the old rapid style. Sometimes
plants had to be ordered for the garden, or some other
easy correspondence which could not be termed work.
Before lunch, at least an hour (which was always an en-
grossing time) was spent in the grounds ; he then often

JET. 83.] QUIET DAYS. 393

rested on a bench and made notes of the shrubs marked
for change of position ; and at different corners of the
garden considered improvements and alterations which
he had in view. The route chosen for the afternoon
drive was most often towards some plateau implement
ground, when he was able to contemplate several of
the sites that had yielded the weapons or tools of
primitive man. These easy open drives in the pictur-
esque country always refreshed him, and in getting
into the carriage a frequent remark with a smile was,
"I have become quite resigned to these lazy ways."
The evening, however, was the time to which he looked
forward, when he liked his wife to read aloud, never
tired of Scotch stories, and appreciating their dry
humour and caustic sayings : it was difficult to main-
tain a supply sufficient for the demand. Seeing a
facsimile of the first 1678 edition of the 'Pilgrim's
Progress' advertised, he expressed a wish for a copy,
which was placed on the drawing-room table by his
chair, and at odd moments the marvellous allegory was
usually in his hands. He had been ever a steady reader
of ' Nature,' and in one of his last evenings downstairs,
while its pages were open before him, his eyes lighting
up, he observed, " I cannot tell you how much I enjoy
' Nature,' it is such a pleasure to me to see what other
workers are doing in other subjects." While debarred
from his own special books, one which interested him
was ' In a Gloucestershire Garden/1 and a list lies before
us of the plants and flowers which were new to him,
and had therefore not found a place in his own garden.
This list had been jotted down in pencil, and was after-
wards traced over in ink in a tremulous hand.

In answer to an inquiry made by Mr A. H. Tabrum,

1 By Canon Ellacombe.

394 FINAL WRITINGS. [l895.

he writes, 12th August 1895, only three months before
his last illness : —

Eeligion and science constitute two distinct branches of human
knowledge and inquiry. They move in parallel lines, and cannot,
in my opinion, clash. They certainly should not. The one has
to deal with moral questions, the other with physical questions.
You may have seen that I deal with one of the latter in my
' Tradition of the Flood/ recently published by Messrs Mac-
millan & Co.

Among the last notes in his handwriting is one in
which reference is made to his letter of challenge in
the ' Geological Magazine ' : —

J. Prestwich to Sir J. Evans.

DARENT-HULME, SHOREHAM, 2nd Sept. 1895.

MY DEAR EVANS, — It was a pleasure to us to hear of your safe
return, and of the delightful round you had had — all ground
unvisited by me, but of which I have heard much. I suppose
you secured a bag of the Saxon coins. I suppose you will be at
Ipswich. I have written to Galton to express my regret.

I hope you approve of my letter. It will put the matter to
your followers to the test. You will, I think and hope, have to
give up that leadership, unless you do not wish to be left without
any disciples — at least so I judge from Harrison's gains. This fine
weather suits me, but I have had rather a bad time of it of late,
and have not been allowed to work. I hope that will not last
long. I trust you and Lady Evans are well ; and with love from
self and wife, I am, ever sincerely yours,

JOSEPH PRESTWICH.

While conscientious in adhering to the rules enjoined
by his devoted friend and medical adviser, Dr F. C.
Bury, his sanguine and buoyant nature led him con-
fidently to look forward to restored health and capac-
ity for work. But to one who looked on there was

MT. 83.] AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 395

no apparent gain in strength. A visit late in Sep-
tember from Sir John and Lady Evans gave untold
pleasure, although he found himself unable to carry
out his programme of accompanying them to various
sites of the plateau implements. It was after this
visit that he felt stronger and better, and, as an inter-
mediate step to geological work, began writing his
autobiography, which his wife had often urged him
to place on record, and the few pages of which are
given in the early part of this volume. With his pen
in hand and a sheaf of foolscap before him he lighted
up and felt the old power for work. As this was the
case, he could not resist breaking ground with a paper
" On some Local Freshwater Deposits underlying the
Glacial Series in the South of England," which he in-
tended to be the forerunner of a series of glacial
memoirs.1 This last work, unfortunately, is too in-
complete for publication. His ruling passion — the
love of geology — was, however, unquenchable.

But about 9.30 on the evening of the 1st of Novem-
ber, and after a day when, in spite of repeated re-
minders, his pen had been longer than usual at work,
Joseph Prestwich rose from his chair, while his wife as
usual was reading aloud, and going across the room,
lay down on the sofa, saying in rather a low voice, " I
am not feeling very well." He never complained, not
even when in pain and suffering, so it was evident that
he was ill. He would not hear of Dr Bury being sent
for, saying, " Wait, I am feeling better," and went back
to his easy-chair. But the improvement was only tem-
porary, as shortly after he became unconscious for two
or three minutes. While a messenger rode off to

1 A brief account of this MS. is given in the Geological Magazine, Dec.
IV., vol. v. p. 405, 1898.

396 ILLNESS. [1895.

Biverhead for Dr Bury, he had rallied so far as with
help to be able to walk upstairs, declining any extra
assistance. It proved the beginning of a last illness,
when during eight long months he suffered no pain,
but lay in a state of extreme bodily weakness. So
long as he had strength to listen he liked to have the
current news read regularly every morning, and later
in the day he again listened to reading.

As Dr Bury expressed a wish for a second opinion,
Sir W. Broadbent joined him in consultation and
approved of all the treatment : he held out hope,
which was clung to at the time, but on looking back
it is evident that the physician's opinion was a quali-
fied one.

Soon after this there were anxious fluctuations in
the condition of the invalid, which he clearly realised.
He expressed a wish to receive the Holy Communion,
which was administered to him by Mr Bullen, whose
attachment to him was as that of a son. Owing to
feebleness of the heart he had been forbidden to sit
up ; therefore, when seeing the frail form struggle into
a strange crouching posture, his wife whispered, " You
are in a painful position?" "It is more penitent,"
was the answer. The solemnity of the scene cannot
be told in words.

Rev. E. Ashington Bullen to G. A. Prestwich.

SHOREHAM VICARAGE, 2,9th Dec. 1895.

DEAR MRS PRESTWICH, — I sincerely trust that my dear
master did not suffer from the intense strain of yesterday
afternoon. It was a great privilege to be with you both, and it
will abide with me as long as I live. I have always felt very
near the dear professor, — now I feel nearer than ever. I would
that some of those proud of their spiritual and intellectual at-

^T. 83.] KNIGHTHOOD. 397

tainments could see his deep humility, which, as Montgomery
so finely sings in the hymn that was my dear mother's greatest
favourite, is " nearest the Throne."

A few days before this date it had been rumoured
that Joseph Prestwich's name was one of those in the
list designated for New Year's honours, and two of his
old kind friends, of whom Dr H. Woodward was one and
Sir Henry Howorth the other, thinking to give him
pleasure, wrote to inform him of the report. The news
gave him unfeigned pleasure — though not on his own
account. From weakness which had been alarming he
again rallied, and there were even glad symptoms of
a little step upward. New Year's morning brought a
confirmation of the rumour that he was one of those
upon whom her Majesty bestowed the honour of
knighthood. One of the earliest telegrams received
was from Sir John Evans with hearty congratulations,
and " this will help Sir Joseph's convalescence," the
words bringing a bright smile to the invalid's face.
Throughout the day messages kept arriving from
attached friends, each one giving heartfelt pleasure.

But after a few months it was plain that the im-
provement was not maintained, that on the contrary
there was the almost imperceptible decline, and that
the frail life hung upon a thread. Yet with that dis-
tressingly low pulse there was no actual pain — a
mercy for which those who looked on could not be too
thankful.

" But, 0 my gentle sisters, 0 my brothers,
These thick-sown snowflakes hint of toil's release ;
These feebler pulses bid me leave to others
The tasks once welcome: Evening asks for peace."

All that the best and kindest medical skill could
devise was brought to bear upon his case. Dr Bury

398 ILLNESS. [1896.

watched for any untoward symptom, and his visit was
eagerly looked forward to as the event of the day.
The tedium of the sick-bed was also lightened by the
frequent sight of near and dear relatives : his sister
Eliza (Mrs Tomkins) was constant in her visits, as was
his attached niece Annie l (daughter of Mrs Thurburn),
while his sister, Emily Prestwich, had throughout
his illness remained in the house. There was never
a morning without, some letter of affectionate in-
quiry, the reading of which brought the shining
light into his eyes, none giving keener pleasure
than those from his friend Evans. Again and again
Sir Archibald Geikie sent long letters with accounts
of all that was passing in the geological world, to
every word of which he listened with delighted
interest. "No letter from Rupert to-day?" was
an inquiry often made, referring to his old friend,
Professor Rupert Jones. Then there were the letters
from Sir Henry Acland, expressing, as they ever did,
the old brotherly affection. From abroad, too, came
frequent inquiries, for the news of his illness had
spread. It is not too much to say that these proofs of
affectionate interest coming constantly, as they did,
were a solace and comfort to the frail invalid : they
made him remember that he held a place in many
hearts. It should be mentioned, too, that letters from
Mrs Etheridge invariably cheered him : they always
brought brightness to him, telling perhaps of a step
forward made by some other invalid, something to
think of and look forward to. Then there were the
little visits from Mr Bullen, who occasionally brought
a newly found flint implement in his pocket, and when
it was a sight to see the flash and eager look of delight

1 Wife of General Wm. Percival Tomkins, RE., C.I.E.

,ET. 84.] LAST DAYS. 399

with which it was handled, and how the slender fingers
felt it all over, noting the chipping and marks with a
smile of approval. Nor must we forget the fresh
flowers — his own flowers, which were daily brought to
him, and now as ever contributed so largely to the
pleasure of his life. The last little tree of which he
superintended the planting was the variegated species
of the Thuiopsis, the T. variegata ; and on his more
than once inquiring how it had stood the winter, a
sprig of the white- tipped foliage was brought to him,
when it was characteristic to see the keen interest with
which it was handled and examined.

As the spring wore on it was too apparent that his
power of listening to reading had become less, and that
he was unable to bear the strain of long - sustained

o

attention. At night, when a brief invalid prayer was
read — a sentence or two — he roused himself and joined
with fervour, and followed also a few verses of a psalm,
ending with a hymn, to which he specially liked to
listen. He often asked for the hymn, " Jesus, Lover
of my soul " ; but he was so much affected by it that
it was found advisable to substitute another. Dr Bury,
always on the watch for any amelioration of his posi-
tion, suggested his being carried in a recumbent pos-
ture into the adjoining library, to a bed placed there.
One sad look round at his books — those books which he
was never again to open — was given when he was first
moved there ; afterwards he did not appear to notice
them. As no harm was done by this experiment of
an hour or two daily in the library, Dr Bury arranged
for a move, always in a recumbent posture, down to
the dining-room on the ground floor, where, from a
couch in the bow-window, the invalid in the daytime
could look out on the lawn with its flower-beds, and

400 DEATH. [1896.

on the background of shrubs and trees0 There is no
doubt that this change to a room downstairs gave
him immense pleasure, and often as he lay quietly
contemplating the flower -borders (his own planning),
he sank into a restful sleep. But the sight of that
pathetic form in the window was almost unnerving for
those who looked on. In the evenings the doors from
dining- to drawing-room were thrown open, and to his
delight his sister-in-law, Louisa Milne, played piece
after piece of the music he liked best. With a wistful
smile he remarked, " What with the music and the
flowers, I am beginning to enjoy life." Dr Bury's hope
was that in warm summer air he might be able to be
carried out to a couch in the garden, and this would
have been feasible from the dining-room ; but, alas ! it
was not to be. There was a further failure of strength,
and an alarmingly low pulse. The music which had
given such manifest delight now failed to interest or
attract his attention. The end was near : it came
before dawn on the morning of the 23rd June 1896.
A few days later the mortal remains of Joseph
Prestwich were laid in the churchyard of Shoreham,
in the presence of an assemblage of attached friends,
many of whom were representatives of the scientific
societies of which he had been so notable a working
member. The service was performed by his old friend
Canon Bonney and by the Rev. K. A. Bullen. A grey
granite cross marks his resting-place, with the motto of
the Prestwich family inscribed on the base, "In te
Domine speravi." It is within sight of his dear home.

Numerous letters of sympathy bore testimony to the
place he held as a man of science and to the love he
inspired. An extract from one addressed to the writer

JET. 84.] LETTERS OF SYMPATHY. 401

by Lady Bamsay, widow of the geologist, may be given
as an example of many : —

I think I remember telling you when you married that your
husband stood on the highest pinnacle of our love and esteem,
and those words are as true now as ever, but to those feelings I
have now to add the deep grief of parting with, it seems to me,
the one last link to the dear old set and the never-forgotten old
times, and that parting, the loss of the sweetest, most courteous
and high-minded and lovable gentleman of my acquaintance. . . .
The memory of dear Sir Joseph will be " sadly kept " as long as
I remember anything.

The Master of Pembroke College (Professor Bar-
tholomew Price), who so recently passed away, also
gave his testimony :—

Very many friends and admirers of Sir Joseph Prestwich are
grieving with you : they feel that geological science has lost the
foremost of its able students, and that a man great in all respects
has fallen from among them.

M. Gaudry, the distinguished palaeontologist, wrote :—

Je suis tres afflige d'apprendre la mort de mon illustre con-
frere, Sir Joseph Prestwich. Non seulement c'etait un des plus
grands geologues de notre epoque, mais ainsi c'e'tait un homme
d'un si beau caractere, que tout le monde 1'aimait. Le chagrin
des savants anglais sera partage par les savants fran^ais, qui
avaient pour Sir Joseph la plus profonde estime. . . . L'Institut
de France et la Societe ge"ologique vont prendre une vive part a
votre rualheur. . . .

The official letter, addressed to Lady Prestwich by
the President and Council of the Geological Society
of London, records " their high appreciation of the
life-long work achieved by Sir Joseph Prestwich, who
for sixty-three years was a member of their body, alike
respected and beloved."

2 c

402

SUMMABY OF THE SCIENTIFIC WOEK OF
SIE JOSEPH PEESTWICH, D.C.L, F.E.S.,

BY

SIR ARCHIBALD GEIKIE, D.C.L., F.R.S.,

DIRECTOR- GENERAL OF THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEYS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM.

THE scientific career of Joseph Prestwich was marked
by the long period over which it extended, and by the
wide range of subjects within the domain of geology
which it embraced. For more than sixty years, with
indefatigable industry, he continued to contribute orig-
inal observations and reflections to the science to which
he had dedicated his life. His writings cover almost
the whole field of geology. He discussed the various
agencies, epigene and hypogene, which are now giving
rise to geological changes on the earth. He studied
the various geological formations from the Old Red
Sandstone to the most recent Gravels, but specially de-
voted himself to the older Tertiary and the Quaternary
series. He gave much thought to the practical appli-
cations of geology, and led the way in pointing out the
intimate relation between water-supply and geological
structure. And lastly, he gave the world the benefit
of his ripe experience and long reflection in the text-
book in which he took a philosophical survey of the
whole realm of geological investigation.

RIVER VALLEYS. 403

To gain a general idea of the nature, extent, and
value of his scientific work, it will be convenient to
subdivide his writings according to the several branches
of geology which they illustrate. For this purpose we
may first consider his contributions to our knowledge
of the causes that produce geological changes, and the
effects to which they give rise.

From an early part of his scientific studies Prestwich
paid close attention to the influence of running water
on the face of the land. His interest in this subject
was greatly quickened by his observations in connection
with the high-level and low-level Gravels of the river-
valleys in the south-east of England and the north-east
of France. From these deposits he drew the important
conclusion that the valleys have been mainly eroded by
the rivers which still flow in them. Though this ex-
planation of river- valleys was strongly insisted upon by
Hutton and Playfair, and had been demonstrated for
Central France by Desmarest and afterwards by Scrope
and Lyell, it had never attained wide acceptance
among geologists. When it was adopted and enforced
by Prestwich on a basis of well -ascertained fact, it
came almost with the freshness of a new discovery.
He quickly saw its significance in regard to the slow
sculpture of the face of the land, and the great antiq-
uity which it proved for the older and higher terraces
of Gravel. In his memoir, read before the Royal
Society in 1862 [56],1 he dwelt on the evidence that
could be adduced of powerful and long-continued erosion
in the valleys by the streams that still flow in them ;
and he continued to bring forward additional proofs in
support of his views [61], until geologists everywhere

1 The numbers within square brackets refer to the corresponding entries
in the list of writings given at p. 422.

404 SUMMARY OF WORK.

admitted the validity of his reasoning. There re-
mained, indeed, differences of opinion as to the in-
tensity of the operations by which the denudation had
been effected. The followers of Lyell would not admit
that the observed facts demanded the existence of
larger rivers and more powerful floods than might be
witnessed at the present time, while Prestwich was
always prepared to find that the geological agents had
worked on a grander scale in former times than they
do now. But the fundamental fact, that the valleys of
the south-east of England and the north-west of France
had been carved out by the action of the rivers that
drain them, was now accepted without further demur.

To Prestwich, therefore, must be assigned a not in-
considerable share in promoting the advance made
during the last thirty years in the investigation of
the history of terrestrial topography. He continued
to interest himself in the subject up to the end of his
life. Some of his last contributions to science dealt
with the carving out of the river- valleys around his
home at Shoreham and in the neighbouring district of
the Weald [123-125].

The geologists of the British Islands have always
been foremost in their recognition of the place of the
ocean among the agents of terrestrial change. Prest-
wich followed the national instinct when, in his Presi-
dential Address to the Geological Society in 1871, he
seized the opportunity, then offered by the expeditions
of the Lightning and Porcupine, to review the pro-
gress of inquiry into the life of the deep sea and its
relations to geological history [74], while at the
same time he called attention to the geological signif-
icance of the distribution of temperature in the ocean.
This latter department of oceanography especially en-

PHYSICAL GEOLOGY. 405

gaged his attention, and for years he continued to
collect the materials, which he finally embodied in a
voluminous memoir, read in 1874 before the Royal
Society [87], wherein he tabulated all the recorded
observations of sea-temperatures from 1749 to 1868,
and discussed some of their geological bearings.

Nor did the more active geological operations of the
sea escape his scrutiny. Thus he made a careful study
of the conditions which seemed to him to have led to
the formation of the well-known Chesil Bank. In the
account of this inquiry, which he communicated to the
Institute of Civil Engineers [89], he combined the
results of an investigation of the present action of the
tides and currents along the Dorsetshire coast with
an examination of the proofs of earlier geological
changes in that district. In this, as in so many of
his other papers, he was able to bring a wide geo-
logical experience towards the elucidation of the prob-
lems which he undertook to discuss.

In England, and more especially in the south-eastern
counties, the geologist has but slender opportunity of
studying the underground operations with which his
science deals. In the year 1870 Prestwich spent some
time among the volcanic regions of Italy. The writer
of the present notice of his labours had the advantage
of accompanying him in some of his excursions around
Rome and Naples, and recalls with pleasure the keen
interest which the veteran geologist took in every
phenomenon in the volcanic history of those fascinating
districts. He especially remembers the exploration of
Vesuvius, the scrutiny of the crater-wall of Somma, and
the enthusiasm awakened by the evidence of profound
erosion in the gullies that descend from the crest of
Somma into the plain to the north — an enthusiasm

406 SUMMARY OF WORK.

that was not damped by the torrents of rain that fell
as the travellers threaded their way down one of the
ravines.

Even had this journey never been made, Prestwich's
sound views and wide sympathies in every department
of his favourite science would not probably have
allowed him to leave the field of volcanic geology un-
trodden. He had evidently reflected much on the
subject before he contributed, in 1885, three short but
suggestive papers to the Royal Society. In the first
of these he discussed the various recorded observations
of underground temperature, and concluded that the
rise of the thermometer amounts to an average of 1°
Fahr. for every 48 feet of descent. He further sug-
gested that the abnormally high temperatures found
in piercing the Alps for the construction of railway
tunnels might be the residue of the heat caused by the
intense lateral pressure and crushing of the rocks
which accompanied the last elevation of the mountain-
chain [112]. Pursuing this idea, he was led to speculate
on the probable cause of the metamorphism observable
among mountain-ranges in strata which, upon the sur-
rounding plains, have undergone no alteration [114].
He connected the change with the great development
of heat during the process of mountain-making. Rea-
soning from the results of Mallet's experiments on
rock-crushing, he contended that the effects of this
increased temperature would vary with compressibility,
some rocks being made three times hotter than others
under the same strain. In this way he accounted for
the local character of the metamorphism, and for its
much more marked development in some strata than in
others. In the third memoir [113], he controverted the
common assumption that the expulsion of lava at a

EAKLY FIELD-WORK. 407

volcanic vent is due to the expansion of water- vapour
contained within the molten rock under great pressure
and at a high temperature. But he had formed no
original conception of volcanic energy. Following Mr
Osmond Fisher's reasoning, he supposed that a thin
terrestrial crust rests on a slowly yielding viscous
layer within which lies a solid nucleus. The aqueous
vapour in volcanic eruptions he regarded as due to the
surface and underground waters with which the in-
tensely hot magma of the interior comes in contact,
and he believed that the actual cause of the uprise of
molten material and the outflow of lava is to be sought
in the effects of the secular refrigeration and contrac-
tion of this planet, the cooling and shrinking outer
shell compressing and forcing out the intensely heated
material inside.

It is interesting to note that Prestwich began his
geological career by studying in minute and patient
detail the coal-field of Coalbrookdale, and that he was
thereafter led to explore the Old Red Sandstone of the
Moray Firth. This early work was so eclipsed by the
brilliance of his later researches among much younger
formations, that a later generation of his contem-
poraries hardly realised the rare excellence and orig-
inality of his first great essay. The elaborate memoir
on Coalbrookdale [7], presented to the Geological
Society when its author was only a young man of
twenty, is certainly a remarkable performance. Those
to whom it was first addressed can hardly have failed
to recognise in its author one of the future leaders of
English geology. Selecting an area of about 100
square miles, he carefully mapped its geology on
the scale of one inch to a mile. The map was no
mere sketch, but an elaborate survey, wherein the out-

408 SUMMARY OF WORK.

crops of the several seams of coal were traced, and
the positions and effects of all the principal disloca-
tions were represented. The structure of the ground
was further displayed in a series of horizontal and
vertical sections, while additional details were given
in an excellent descriptive memoir, combining a com-
plete account of the stratigraphy and palaeontology
of the district. The lists of fossils, together with
plates of new species, form an important feature in
this publication. Not only were the organic remains
of the several formations discriminated, but even the
characteristic forms of successive horizons were dis-
tinguished, and the bearing of the palseontological
evidence on the geological conditions of deposit were
luminously discussed. This Coalbrookdale monograph
must be regarded as one of the classics of English
geology, marking a notable advance in the progress
of stratigraphy, and serving as a model for the sub-
sequent investigation of the geological structure of
our coal-fields. It appeared before the then recently
organised Geological Survey had mapped any of those
parts of the country, and it is remarkable how closely
the mapping of the Survey in subsequent years fol-
lowed the lines which he had laid down.

But, unquestionably, the most important of Sir
Joseph's original contributions to science are to be
found in the series of papers which he wrote on
the older Tertiary formations of the south - east of
England, and on the younger deposits containing the
earliest traces of man. This brilliant work was begun,
carried on, and completed during the scanty intervals
of leisure which he could snatch from a busy mer-
cantile life. Properly to understand its scope and
value, we must go back to the earlier decades of this

EOCENE STRATA. 409

century and take note of the vague and confused
ideas then entertained by geologists as to the arrange-
ment and stratigraphical value of the series of deposits
that overlie the Chalk. The term London Clay had
been applied by William Smith to these deposits from
the argillaceous character of their chief member. Sub-
sequently various geologists noticed the occurrence of
a group of sandy and clayey strata between the main
mass of the London Clay and the top of the Chalk.
These were grouped together as Plastic Clay and Sand,
but their true stratigraphical value and palasontological
interest were hardly recognised. In the year 1846,
Prestwich published the first of the long series of
papers in which he gradually worked out the true
relations of the several members of the series, and
brought them into relation with their equivalents in
France and Belgium. The story of this evolution of
clear order out of the confusion that had preceded
Prestwich's researches has been well told by Mr
Whitaker, who has followed so worthily in the foot-
steps of the pioneer whose labours he chronicles.1
Beginning among the cliff sections of the Isle of
Wight [9], Prestwich traversed every part of the
Hampshire and London basins, recording his obser-
vations on copies of the Ordnance maps, and in
voluminous note -books. From year to year he
communicated his results to the Geological Society,
each paper throwing new light on the history of the
geological formations, until in 1854 his great essay
on the Woolwich and Reading series [23] added the
coping-stone to the edifice he had so patiently reared.
He showed that between the top of the Chalk and
the base of the London Clay a group of strata, which

1 Mem. Geol. Survey, The Geology of London, vol. i. (1889), p. 88.

410 SUMMARY OF WORK.

he had called the " Lower London Tertiaries," was
capable of a threefold arrangement into --1st, the
basement-bed of the London Clay ; 2nd, the Woolwich
and Reading series ; and 3rd, the Thanet Sands.
Tracing out the range and general physical features
of the middle group, he brought forward numerous
sections showing the local variations of the sediments
from Hampshire to the east of Kent. He gave ample
lists of the fossil contents of the strata, and discussed
them in their bearings on the geographical conditions
under which the deposits were accumulated. For the
first time, the succession of geological events recorded
in the oldest Eocene strata of England was clearly
stated.

After reducing to order the older Tertiary series of
England, Prestwich conferred a still further service on
geology by bringing the English formations into line
with those of France and Belgium. In a series of
elaborate papers [32, 36, 109, 118] communicated to
the Geological Society, he established the correlation of
these deposits both lithologically and palseontologically,
and in so doing became the acknowledged leader in the
Tertiary geology of Western Europe.

In the course of his researches among the Eocene
formations, Prestwich was necessarily led to take note
of the younger Tertiary deposits sparingly distributed
over the east and south-east of England. At intervals,
from the very beginning of his career, he had made
excursions into Suffolk and Norfolk. From 1845 to
1855 he devoted much time to the study of the younger
Tertiary deposits of these counties. But he was too
much engaged in his Eocene investigations to find time
to elaborate his Pliocene notes into methodical form.
It was not until the spring of the year 1868 that he

PLIOCENE STRATA. 411

was able to bring forward a detailed account of his
studies in the form of a memoir on the Coralline Crag
[65], followed by another two months later on the Red
Crag [66], and by a third in the year 1870 on the
Norwich Crag [69]. These three memoirs were de-
layed in publication, and did not appear until the year
1871, when they were issued in successive numbers of
the twenty-seventh volume of the ' Quarterly Journal of
the Geological Society.' Though the observations re-
corded in them by Prestwich were the results of his
own sedulous examination of the ground, and though
the conclusions he arrived at were founded on his own
original researches, these papers made their appearance
after much time and labour had been spent in the in-
vestigation of the same deposits by other observers.
He was perhaps hardly aware to what extent his
earlier work had been forestalled in date of publication
by the labours of his younger contemporaries. As
original contributions to geology, his East Anglian
papers have thus not the same originality and fresh-
ness that were shown in his series of Eocene memoirs,
where he had the ground largely to himself, and
published his researches while they were still new and
not anticipated by other fellow-labourers.

To one of his investigations in later Tertiary geology
reference may here be made as an instance of his
sagacity of observation. He had long been acquainted
with certain ferruginous sands scattered over the
North Downs from Folkestone to Dorking. He re-
cognised these materials to be different from the red
flint -drift or loam, on the one hand, and from the
outliers of older Tertiary sands and pebble - beds
on the other. In 1854 some highly ferruginous
parts of these deposits yielded a number of casts of

412 SUMMARY OF WORK.

shells which were regarded by some palaeontologists as
indicating the base of the London Clay. Prestwich,
however, assigned them to a much more recent period.
He shared the opinion of Searles Wood, who regarded
them as probably of the age of the Lower Crag. More
recent observations by Mr Clement Reid of the Geolog-
ical Survey, and the discovery of other and better
preserved fossils, have left no doubt that Prestwich
was entirely justified in looking upon these remnants
of a once extensive deposit as Pliocene.

Outside the ranks of geologists Prestwich was prob-
ably best known for his connection with the establish-
ment of the Antiquity of Man, and for his share in
bringing home to the English public the enormous
importance of geological knowledge in dealing with
water - supply and other questions of every - day
occurrence.

When in the spring of 1859, at the suggestion of
Dr Hugh Falconer, he undertook to investigate the
alleged proofs of the occurrence of flint - implements
together with the remains of extinct mammalia in
some of the old valley - gravels of the north of
France, he entered on the inquiry with no very
sanguine hope of finding that there was any good
ground for the contention of M. Boucher de Perthes,
who some ten years before had proclaimed his belief
in the remote antiquity of the human race. But
the evidence proved so strong as entirely to satisfy
him that the French observer, who had met with
but scant sympathy or support, was nevertheless
right in his main conclusion. It was important to
establish the fundamental fact that man was a con-
temporary of the long extinct mammals whose bones
were found lying beside his flint weapons in beds

ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 413

of undisturbed gravel, and further to show that the
deposit of this gravel, though referable to a compara-
tively late geological period, must be older than the
present configuration of the ground. Prestwich lost
no time in communicating the results of his examina-
tion of the Abbeville region to the Royal Society [46].
He cautiously abstained from pronouncing on the antiq-
uity of man, contenting himself with pointing out
that though there could be no doubt that man was
contemporary with certain extinct forms of elephant,
rhinoceros, deer, and other animals, no evidence had
yet been obtained to show the chronological value of
the interval that had elapsed since the deposit of the
gravels containing the worked flints. He himself was
at first inclined, not so much to throw the human period
indefinitely backward, as to bring down the period of
the extinct mammalia nearer to our own day, and to
account for their disappearance and for the modification
of the superficial topography by some sudden or
rapid geological change, which, though transient, was
powerful enough to leave its memorial on the surface
of the land. As his investigations proceeded he felt
the weight of evidence continually augmenting in
favour of the long lapse of time required for the ex-
cavation of the valleys and for the production of the
vast changes in the configuration of the land since the
accumulation of the implement -bearing gravels. In
his next great memoir, published in 1864 [56], he ad-
mitted that "we must greatly extend our present
chronology with respect to the first existence of man ;
but that we should count by hundreds of thousands of
years is, I am convinced, in the present state of the
inquiry, unsafe and premature." In this valuable
essay, the whole evidence of the valley-gravels and of

414 SUMMARY OF WORK.

the gradual erosion of the valleys is marshalled with
great skill, and discussed with characteristic clearness
and caution. In later essays he admitted that man
was living in Glacial or Post- Glacial times which came
down approximately to within 10,000 or 12,000 years
of our own day [116, 122].

Thus it is to Prestwich, more than to any other
geologist, that we owe the establishment of the fact
that man coexisted with a number of now long extinct
mammals, and that his advent on the earth must be
relegated to a far higher antiquity than that which
had previously been accepted. While he was engaged
in the researches that led to these results, he at the
same time greatly enlarged our knowledge of the later
phases of the Ice Age, particularly in the river-valleys
of the south of England and north-west of France.
The term " Drift " has been vaguely applied to a mul-
tifarious series of superficial deposits, differing widely
from each other in origin and in age. Prestwich
strenuously contended for the local origin of the
gravels in which flint-implements and mammalian re-
mains occur together. He showed that these accumu-
lations unquestionably belong to the river - systems
within which they are found, that they were fluviatile
in origin, and were deposited by the streams which
still flow in the same valleys. He maintained, how-
ever, that the rivers were formerly vastly larger than
they are now ; that, in virtue of their size, width, and
transporting power, they were able to carry downward
and spread out over their flood-plains the widely dis-
tributed sheets of coarse shingle now remaining ; while
from time to time they rose in floods of extraordinary
magnitude that deposited the fine silt, containing land-
shells, which is now to be seen covering all the differ-

LATER GEOLOGICAL CHANGES. 415

ent gravel - beds. Considerable difference of opinion
still exists, however, regarding some of these deduc-
tions. Other observers, as remarked above, have been
unable to perceive any satisfactory evidence that the
rivers were generally more swollen than they are at
present, though at exceptional periods of melting
snow they may have surpassed in volume any floods
chronicled in their valleys during historic time. But
Prestwich detected the traces of another transporting
agent than that of mere unaided river-water. In the
presence of large unworn blocks among the ancient
gravels, together with much sharp angular detritus,
he recognised the operation of river-ice. Thus all over
the south-east of England, where the climate is now
so mild, he traced indications that in old times the
rivers flowing on the platform of the higher gravels
were frozen over ; that ice forming along their margins
or over their bottoms lifted and carried along the
shingle and boulders lying there ; and that when these
Arctic conditions prevailed, man had already appeared,
fishing in the rivers, or tracking the mammoth, the
bison, and various extinct forms of deer through the
surrounding forests and prairies.

Among Prestwich 's contributions to the history of
the latest geological changes that have affected the
south of England and the north of France, his num-
erous papers on the so-called Raised Beaches of this
region [4, 44, 48, 52, 64, 79, 88, 97-99, 128] deserve
recognition. The notices of recent uprise of the land
in Britain and on the opposite French coast were based
on his own personal observations, and they are of
value as records of facts formerly visible, but some of
which have been obscured or concealed by the progress
of building and other changes. Prestwich, however,

416 SUMMARY OF WORK.

carried his deductions far beyond these local limits.
He collected a vast mass of evidence from the writings
of Continental geologists, regarding what he considered
to be evidence of a submergence of Western Europe
at the close of the Glacial period [130]. His data
ranged from the coasts of Belgium and France to Gib-
raltar, and embraced the whole wide basin of the Medi-
terranean. Besting, however, on the testimony of
witnesses of unequal value, they lack the directness
and coherence of his own personal observations, and
the deductions based upon them, though elaborately
worked out, have not yet obtained general acceptance.
As regards the conclusions drawn by him in some of
his later papers dealing with the supposed evidence
of changes of level in the South of England, geological
opinion is likewise divided [see especially 128]. These
papers, though the result of much close personal ob-
servation made during the course of many years, were
not written out and communicated to the world until
the closing years of his life. In the long interval
which, in "'some cases, had elapsed between his labours
in the field and the discussion of them in these papers,
much had been done in certain directions by other
observers. In regard, for example, to the " Head" or
" Bubble-Drift " of the South of England, we may share
his regret that he was unable to revisit all the ground,
and to review his conclusions in the light of more re-
cent research. But it was of great service to the
history of geological progress that the actual field-
notes;._and matured opinions of so patient and accurate
an observer should have been at last put on record by
himself.

One of the most useful services rendered by Sir
Joseph Prestwich to the cause of his own science was

PRACTICAL GEOLOGY. 417

the active share he took in the practical applications
of geology. His labours in this department were mani-
fested in two different directions. In the first place, he,
more than other geologists of his day, insisted on the
necessity of a knowledge of geological structure in deal-
ing with the question of water-supply. From his early
communication to the Institute of British Architects
[16] down to his pamphlet on the Oxford water-supply
[ill], an interval of thirty-five years elapsed, during
which he came to be regarded as the leading authority
on this subject in England, and his co-operation doubt-
less added much to the value of the Report of the
Royal Commission on Water - Supply, issued in 1869
[67]. It is to be regretted that the maps prepared
by him for this Report were never published. In the
second place, his early devotion to the coal - field of
Coalbrookdale gave him a knowledge of our Carbon-
iferous System, arid an interest in its development,
which he turned to good use in later years, when he
acted as a member of the Royal Commission on Coal.
Not the least valuable part of that important and
voluminous work was supplied by him in his papers
on the quantity of unwrought coal in the coal-fields
of Somerset, and on the probability of finding coal
under the newer formations of the South of England
[75]. In the last-named paper he gave a resume of
all that had been ascertained up to the year 1866
regarding the possible extension of the Coal-Measures,
and gave good grounds for supporting the conclu-
sions of Godwin - Austen, and for believing in "the
high probability of the existence of basins [of coal]
under the Secondary and Tertiary formations of the
South of England." This opinion, and the reasoning
on which it was based, have recently acquired fresh

2 D

418 SUMMARY OF WORK.

interest and value from the successful borings for coal
in Kent.

The main portions of Prestwich's numerous contribu-
tions to the literature of geology are to be found in
the journals and transactions of the various scientific
societies with which he was associated. But he was
likewise the author of a number of independent works,
the preparation of which gave him an opportunity of
ranging over a broader field, and appealing to a wider
circle of readers, than that which he reached by his
more technical writings. The most important of these
separate publications was undoubtedly his treatise or
text-book on ' Geology, Chemical, Physical, and Strati-
graphical,' in two volumes, of which the first, dealing
with the chemical and physical aspects of the science,
appeared in 1886 [115], and the second, taking up
chiefly the stratigraphical side, two years later [117].
In these volumes, issued towards the close of his
scientific career, Prestwich sums up his views 011
every branch of the science to which he had dedicated
his life. Apart, therefore, from their value as con-
tributions to geological literature, they have a special
biographical interest in relation to the position of their
author with regard to disputed questions in geology,
and to the general philosophy of the science. Through-
out his life he remained opposed to the extreme doc-
trines of the Uniformitarian school. He contended that
it was impossible to admit that the limited period —
— 2000 years at the most — during which man had
been recording his observations of nature, could fur-
nish a standard by which the operations of the vast
succession of bygone ages could be measured. On the
other hand, he never adopted to the full the opinions
of the opposite or catastrophic school. He believed

UNIFORMIT ARIANISM. 419

that, while the laws of nature are immutable, the
relative intensity of different geological agencies may
have varied from period to period, and that in seek-
ing for explanations of the phenomena presented by
geological evidence we are not to be hampered by any
foregone conclusions as to uniformity or variation, but,
as in other questions, must frame our hypotheses on an
exhaustive discussion of the facts.

He contended that our interpretations should be
judged by their agreement with the multifarious ques-
tions suggested by the facts, and by the manner in
which they satisfy the various conditions of the prob-
lems to which they are applied. Neither a Uniformi-
tarian nor an extreme Convulsionist, he was content
to accept the guidance of the present condition of
geological causation on the face of the globe, so long
as it did not involve any contradiction of what seemed
to him the obvious teachings of the rocks. But he
never shrank from invoking a gigantic flood, or a
subsidence or elevation of the land, if such seemed
to him the most natural solution of the problems
that presented themselves before him. He lived long
enough to have witnessed some remarkable oscilla-
tions in geological opinion. In his young days a
belief was almost universal in former catastrophes
by which the surface of the globe had from time to
time been devastated. He saw the rise of Lyell into
fame, and the overwhelming influence in this country
of the Uniformitarian doctrines which that great
teacher so cogently enforced. He marked the decline
of the extremer form of Uniformitarianism, and the
growth of a creed more nearly in harmony with his
own.

But it is not from his direct contributions to theo-

420 SUMMARY OF WORK.

retical questions that Prestwich's name will be enrolled
in the list of the founders of English geology. His
long, earnest, patient, and sagacious researches among
the Tertiary formations will for ever mark him out as
one of those to whom geology is indebted for opening
up some new chapters in the history of the globe.
And when in future years the story of Early Man
comes to be written with the fulness of accumulated
knowledge, it will be remembered and acknowledged
that he was one of the foremost pioneers in that fas-
cinating branch of geological inquiry.

In conclusion, it may not be inappropriate to refer
here to the influence which Prestwich exerted on his
scientific contemporaries. The writer of these lines,
who knew him well for many years, may perhaps
be permitted to bear his testimony to the remark-
able and perennial charm of his personality. While
we revered him as one of the last of the old heroic
race of geologists ; while we honoured him for the end-
less enthusiasm and perseverance with which, often in
the midst of many hindrances, he devoted every
leisure moment to the cause of geology ; while we
admired him for the infinite patience, the scrupulous
caution, and the laborious exhaustiveness of his re-
searches, we loved him for the gentle child-like sim-
plicity of his heart, his unaffected modesty, and his
genuine goodness. His bright sunny temperament
always found out what was best in those with whom
he came in contact. His unfailing sympathy delighted
to find expression in active helpfulness. The smile
that lighted up his handsome features seemed to reveal
at one glance the tenderness and kindliness and truth-
fulness of his nature. One felt after an interview
with him cheered and brightened by contact with one

CONCLUSION. 421

whose serene old age seemed to place him so far above
the littlenesses and troubles of life. While his writings
will perpetuate his scientific achievements, it should
be placed on record that it was not these achievements
alone which gave Joseph Prestwich his pre-eminence
among his contemporaries, but that he owed this posi-
tion in large measure to the integrity and charm of
his character.

422

LIST OF PAPEKS, BOOKS, ETC.,
BY SIR JOSEPH PRESTWICH, M.A., D.C.L., F.E.S., ETC.

1834.

1. On some of the Faults which affect the Coal-field of Coalbrookdale.

Proc. Geol. Soc., vol. ii. pp. 18, 19.

1835.

2. Observations on the Ichthyolites of Gamrie in Banffshire, and on the

accompanying Red Conglomerates and Sandstones. Proc. Geol. Soc.,
vol. ii. pp. 187, 188.

1836.

3. Memoir on the Geology of Coalbrookdale. [Abstract.] Proc. Geol. Soc.,

vol. ii. pp. 401-406.

1837.

4. On some Recent Elevations of the Coast of Banffshire, and on a Deposit

of Clay formerly considered to be Lias. Proc. Geol. Soc., vol. ii.
p. 545.

1838.

5. Sur les Debris de Mammiferes terrestres qui se trouvent dans 1'Argile

plastique, aux Environs d'Epernay. Bull. Soc. Ge'ol. Fr., vol. ix.
pp. 84-95.

1840.

6. On the Structure of the Neighbourhood of Gamrie, Banffshire, partic-

ularly on the Deposit containing Ichthyolites. Trans. Geol. Soc.,
Ser. 2, vol. v. pp. 139-148.

7. On the Geology of Coalbrookdale. Ibid., pp. 413-495.

8. On the Occurrence of Mammalian Remains in the Lower Eocene Deposits

of Epernay, Marne. Mag. Nat. Hist, Ser. 2, vol. iv. pp. 187-194.

LIST OF PAPERS, BOOKS, ETC. 423

1846.

9. On the Tertiary or Supracretaceous Formations of the Isle of Wight, as
exhibited in the Sections at Alum Bay and White Cliff Bay. Quart.
Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. ii. pp. 223-259.

10. On the Wealden Strata exposed by the Tunbridge Wells Railway.

[With JOHN MORRIS.] Ibid., vol. ii. pp. 397-405.

1847.

11. On the Occurrence of Cypris in a part of the Tertiary Freshwater Strata

of the Isle of Wight. Rep. Brit. Assoc. for 1846, Pt. 2, pp. 56-58.

12. On the Probable Age of the London Clay, and its relations to the Hamp-

shire and Paris Tertiary Systems. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. iii.
pp. 354-377.

1 3. On the Main Points of Structure and the Probable Age of the Bagshot

Sands, and on their presumed Equivalents in Hampshire and France.
Ibid., pp. 378-409.

1849.

14. On the Position and General Characters of the Strata exhibited in the

Coast Section from Christchurch Harbour to Poole Harbour. Quart.
Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. v. pp. 43-49.

15. On some Fossiliferous Beds overlying the Red Crag at Chillesford, near

Orford, Suffolk. Ibid:, pp. 345-353.

1850.

16. On the Geological Conditions which determine the relative Value of the

Water-bearing Strata of the Tertiary and Cretaceous Series, and on
the Probability of finding in the Lower Members of the Latter be-
neath London Fresh and Large Sources of Water-supply. Proc. Roy.
Institute of British Architects, July 8, 1850.

17. On the Structure of the Strata between the London Clay and the Chalk

in the London and Hampshire Tertiary Systems. Part I. The Base-
ment Bed of the London Clay. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. vi.
pp. 252-281.

1851.

18. A Geological Inquiry respecting the Water-bearing Strata of the Country

around London, with reference especially to the Water-supply of the
Metropolis. 8vo. London. Pp. 240.

19. On the Drift at Sangatte Cliff, near Calais. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc.,

vol. vii. pp. 274-278.

1852.

20. On some of the Effects of the Holmfirth Flood. Quart. Journ. Geol.

Soc., vol. viii. pp. 225-230.

21. On the Structure of the Strata between the London Clay and the Chalk

in the London and Hampshire Tertiary Systems. Part III. The
Thanet Sands. Ibid., pp. 235-264.

424 LIST OF PAPERS, BOOKS, ETC.

1853.

22. Sur la Position geologique des Sables et du Calcaire lacustre de Rilly

(Marne). Bull. Soc. Geol. Fr., Ser. 2, vol. x. pp. 300-310.

1854.

23. On the Structure of the Strata between the London Clay and the Chalk

in the London and Hampshire Tertiary Systems. Part II. The
Woolwich and Reading Series. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. x.
pp. 75-170.

24. On some Swallow Holes on the Chalk Hills near Canterbury. Ibid.,

pp. 222-224.

25. On the Thickness of the London Clay ; on the relative Position of the

Fossiliferous Beds of Sheppey, Highgate, Harwich, Newnham, Bog-
nor, &c. ; and on the Probable Occurrence of the Bagshot Sands in the
Isle of Sheppey. Ibid., pp. 401-419.

26. On the Distinctive Physical and Palseontological Features of the London

Clay and the Bracklesham Sands ; and on the Independence of these
two Groups of Strata. Ibid., pp. 435-454.

27. On the Correlation of the Lower Tertiaries of England with those of

France and Belgium. Ibid., pp. 454-456.

1855.

28. On the Origin of the Sand- and Gravel-pipes in the Chalk of the London

Tertiary District. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xi. pp. 64-84.

29. On a Fossiliferous Drift near Salisbury. [With JOHN BROWN.] Ibid.,

vol. xi. pp. 101-107.

30. On a Fossiliferous Deposit in the Gravel at West Hackney. Ibid.,

pp. 107-110.

31. On a Fossiliferous Bed of the Drift Period near the Reculvers. Ibid.,

pp. 110-112.

32. On the Correlation of the Eocene Tertiaries of England, France, and

Belgium. Ibid., pp. 206-246.

1856.

33. On the Boring through the Chalk at Kentish Town, London. Quart.

Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xii. pp. 6-14.

34. Note on the Gravel near Maidenhead, in which the Skull of the Musk

Buffalo was found. Ibid., pp. 131-133.

35. On the Correlation of the Middle Eocene Tertiaries of England, France,

and Belgium. [Abstract.] Ibid., pp. 390-392.

1857.

36. On the Correlation of the Eocene Tertiaries of England, France, and

Belgium. Part II. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xiii. pp. 89-134.

LIST OF PAPERS, BOOKS, ETC. 425

37. On some Fossiliferous Ironstone occurring in the North Downs. [Ab-

stract] Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xiii., 1857, pp. 212, 213.

38. The Ground beneath us : its Geological Phases and Changes ; being

Three Lectures on the Geology of Clapham, and the Neighbourhood
of London generally. 8vo. London. Pp. 79.

1858.

39. On the " Haggerstone." Geologist, Vol. i. pp. 113, 114.

40. On the Occurrence of the Boulder Clay, or Northern Clay Drift, at

Bricket Wood, near Watford. Ibid., pp. 241, 242.

41. British Localities of Fossil Mammalia. Ibid., pp. 251, 252.

42. On the Boring through the Chalk at Harwich. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc.,

vol. xiv. pp. 249-252.

43. On the Age of some Sands and Iron-Sandstones on the North Downs.

Ibid., pp. 322-335. [With a Note on the Fossils by S. V. Wood.]

44. On the Westward Extension of the Old Raised Beach of Brighton ; and

on the Extent of the Sea-bed of the same Period. Quart. Journ. Geol.
Soc., vol. xv. pp. 215-221.

1859.

45. Sur la Decouverte d'Instruments en Silex associes a des Restes de Mam-

miferes d'Especes perdues dans des Couches non-remaniees d'une
Formation geologique recente. Paris, Comptes Rendus, vol. xlix. pp.
634-636, 859.

46. On the Occurrence of Flint Implements, associated with the Remains of

Animals of Extinct Species in Beds of a late Geological Period, in
France, at Amiens and Abbeville, and in England at Hoxne. Proc.
Roy. Soc., vol. x. pp. 50-59 [Abstract] ; Phil. Trans, for 1860, 1861,
pp. 277-318.

47. Flint Implements from the Drift. Athenaeum, Dec. 3 and Dec. 10, 1859.

1860.

48. Letter on the Boulders and Gravels of the Gower Cave District, and on

a Raised Beach to the West of Gower. (Appendix to Dr Falconer's
Memoir on the Ossiferous Caves of Gower. PalEeont. Mem., vol. ii.
p. 536.)

49. [Note on the Bone-cave at Brixham in Devonshire.] Quart. Journ. Geol.

Soc., vol. xvi. pp. 189, 190.

50. Description of the Gravels from Spitzbergen collected by Mr Lament.

Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xvi. pp. 438, 439.

51. On the Presence of the London Clay in Norfolk, as proved by a Well-

boring at Yarmouth. Ibid., pp. 449-452.

52. On a Raised Beach in Mewslade Bay, and the Occurrence of the Boulder

Clay on Cefn-y-bryn. [Abstract] Ibid., pp. 487-491. [Appendix
to paper by Dr Falconer.]

426 LIST OF PAPERS, BOOKS, ETC.

1861.

53. On some New Facts in Relation to the Section of the Cliff at Mundesley,

Norfolk. Geologist, vol. iv. pp. 68-71.

54. Notes on some further Discoveries of Flint Implements in Beds of Post-

Pliocene Gravel and Clay ; with a few Suggestions for Search else-
where. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xvii. pp. 362-368.

55. On the Occurrence of the Gyrena fluminalis, together with Marine Shells

of Recent Species, in Beds of Sand and Gravel over Beds of Boulder
Clay, near Hull ; with an Account of some Borings and Well-sections
in the same District. Ibid., pp. 446-456.

' 1862.

56. Theoretical Considerations on the Conditions under which the Drift

Deposits containing the Remains of Extinct Mammalia and Flint Im-
plements were accumulated, and on their Geological Age. On the
Loess of the Valleys of the South of England, and of the Somme and
the Seine. Proc. Roy. Soc., vol. xii. pp. 38-52, 170-173 ; Phil. Trans.,
1864, pp. 247-309.

57. Report on Wines, Spirits, Beer, and other Drinks. International Ex-

hibition, 1862. [Reprinted for Private Circulation by permission of
the Society of Arts.]

1863.

58. On the Section at Moulin Quignon, Abbeville, and on the Peculiar Char-

acter of some of the Flint Implements recently discovered there.
Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xix. pp. 497-505.

59. The Antiquity of Man. Athenaeum, April 25, 1863.

60. The Human Jaw of Abbeville. Ibid., June 13, 1863.

1864.

61. On some Further Evidence bearing on the Excavation of the Valley of

the Somme by River-action, as exhibited in a Section at Drucat, near
Abbeville. Proc. Roy. Soc., vol. xiii., 1864, pp. 135-137. Reprinted
in 4to, with notes.

62. On the Quaternary Flint Implements of Abbeville, Amiens, Hoxne, &c. ;

their Geological Position and History. Proc. Roy. Instit., voL iv.
pp. 213-222.

63. The Brick-earth with Elephant Remains at Ilford. Geol. Mag., vol. i.

pp. 244, 245.

1865.

64. Additional Observations on the Raised Beach of Sangatte with Reference

to the Date of the English Channel and the Presence of Loess in the
Cliff Section. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xxi. pp. 440-442 ; Phil.
Mag., vol. xxx. pp. 378, 379.

LIST OF PAPERS, BOOKS, ETC. 427

1868.

65. On the Structure of the Crag Beds of Norfolk and Suffolk, with some

observations on their Organic Remains. Part I. Coralline Crag.
Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. [Abstract], vol. xxiv. pp. 288, 289.

66. On the Structure of the Crag Beds of Norfolk and Suffolk, with some

observations on their Organic Remains. Part II. The Red Crag of
Suffolk. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xxiv. pp. 460, 461 [Abstract] ;
Phil. Mag., vol. xxxvii., 1869, pp. 146-148.

1869.

67. Royal Commission on Water-supply. (Appointed 1866.) Report of the

Commissioners. 1869. Maps.

68. Metropolitan Board of Works. Reports on the Boring Operations at

Crossness. (Appendix C. 1868.) 1869.

1870.

69. On the Crag of Norfolk and Associated Beds. [Abstract.] Quart. Journ.

Geol. Soc., vol. xxvi. pp. 281, 282 ; Phil. Mag., vol. xi., 1870, pp. 137,
138.

70. A Fact relating to the Crag-pit at Thorpe, near Norwich. Geol. Mag.,

vol. vii. p. 539.

71. Notes on Earthquakes. Ibid., pp. 541-544.

72. The Thames Subway. Nature, vol. i. pp. 280, 281, Jan. 13, 1870.

1871.

73. On the Structure of the Crag Beds of Suffolk and Norfolk, with some

Observations on their Organic Remains. Part I. The Coralline Crag
of Suffolk. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xxvii. pp. 115-146. Part

II. The Red Crag of Essex and Suffolk. Ibid., pp. 325-356. Part

III. The Norwich Crag and Westleton Beds. Ibid., pp. 452-496.

74. Deep-sea Life and its Relations to Geology. Address to the Geological

Society. Ibid., pp. xlii-lxxv.

75. Report of the Commissioners appointed [in 1866] to inquire into the

Several Matters relating to Coal in the United Kingdom ; including —
Report on the Quantities of Coal, wrought and unwrought, in the
Coal-fields of Somersetshire and Part of Gloucestershire, pp. 33-70 ;
and Report on the Probabilities of finding Coal in the South of
England, pp. 146-166. Rep. Royal Coal Commission, vol. i. Fol.
London.

1872.

76. 'La Seine.' Review by J. P. of 'Le Bassin Parisien aux Ages Ante-

historiques.' Par M. Belgrand, Inspecteur - General des Fonts et
Chausees, Directeur des Eaux et des Egouts de la Ville de Paris.
Nature, vol. v. pp. 337-380, March 14, 1872.

428 LIST OF PAPERS, BOOKS, ETC.

77. Denudation of the Mendips. Nature, vol. vi. pp. 60, 61, May 23, 1872.

78. Our Springs and Water-supply, and our Coal-measures and Coal-supply.

Address to the Geological Society. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol.
xxviii. pp. li-xc.

79. On the Presence of a Raised Beach on Portsdown Hill, near Portsmouth,

and on the Occurrence of a Flint Implement on a High Level at
Downton. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xxviii. pp. 38-41.

80. Report on the Exploration of Brixham Cave, conducted by a Com-

mittee of the Geological Society, &c., J. Prestwich, Reporter. Proc.
Roy. Soc., vol. xx. pp. 514-524 [Abstract] ; and Phil. Trans., vol.
clxiii., 1873, pp. 471-572.

81. On the Probable Extension of Coal-measures in the South-East of Eng-

land. Popular Science Review, vol. xi. pp. 225-243.

1873.

82. Our Coal -supply. Review of Professor Hull's Coal-fields of Great

Britain, and of the Report of the Commissioners appointed to Inquire
into the Several Matters relating to Coal in the United Kingdom.
Vol. I. London, 1871. Manchester Guardian, Feb. 7 and 19, 1873.

83. Building Stones. Review of Professor Hull's Treatise on the Building

and Ornamental Stones of Great Britain and Foreign Countries.
Ibid., Aug. 8, 1873.

84. The Depths of the Sea. Review of Professor Wy ville Thomson's Depths

of the Sea. Ibid., Dec. 1873.

1874.

85. On the Geological Conditions affecting the Construction of a Tunnel

between England and France. Proc. Inst. Civ. Eng., vol. xxxvii.,
1874, pp. 1 10-145.

86. Translation into French, 1874, of the Structure of the Crag Beds— Les

Couches du Crag, par Dr Michel Mourlon.

87. Tables of Temperatures of the Sea at Different Depths beneath the

Surface, reduced and collated from the Various Observations made
between the Years 1749 and 1868. With Map and Sections. Proc.
Royal Soc., vol. xxii. pp. 462-468 ; and Phil. Trans., vol. clxv., 1876,
pp. 587-674.

88. Notes on the Phenomena of the Quaternary Period in the Isle of

Portland and around Weymouth. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol.
xxxi. pp. 29-54.

1875.

89. On the Origin of the Chesil Bank. Proc. Inst. Civ. Eng., vol. xl., 1875,

pp. 61-79.

90. The Past and Future of Geology. Inaugural Address, Oxford, 1875.

8vo. Macmillan & Co. Pp. 48.

LIST OF PAPERS, BOOKS, ETC. 429

1876.

91. On the Geological Conditions affecting the Water-supply to Houses

and Towns, with special Keference to the Modes of supplying Oxford.
8vo. Oxford. Pp. 48.

92. On the Mineral Water of the Artesian Well at St Clements, Oxford,

Read before the Ashmolean Society, 1876.

93. Thickness of the Oxford Clay. Geol. Mag., Dec. II., vol. iii. pp. 237-239.

1878.

94. On the Section of Messrs Meux & Co.'s Artesian Well in the Tottenham

Court Road, with Notices of the Well at Crossness, and of another at
Shoreham, Kent ; and on the Probable Range of the Lower Green-
sand and Palaeozoic Rocks under London. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc.,
vol. xxxiv. pp. 902-913.

1879.

95. On the Discovery of a Species of Iguanodon in the Kimmeridge Clay

near Oxford ; and a Notice of a very Fossiliferous Band of the
Shotover Sands. Geol. Mag., Dec. II., vol. vi. pp. 193-195.

96. On the Origin of the Parallel Roads of Lochaber, and their bearing

on other Phenomena of the Glacial Period. Proc. Roy. Soc., vol.
xxix. pp. 6-21 ; and Phil. Trans., vol. xvii., 1879, pp. 663-726.

1880.

97. On a Raised Beach in Rhos Sili Bay, Gower. Rep. Brit. Assoc., Swan-

sea, 1880, p. 581.

98. On the Geological Evidence of the Temporary Submergence of the

South-west of Europe during the early Human Period. Rep. Brit.
Assoc., Swansea, 1880, pp. 581, 582.

99. Sur la Plage Soulevee de Sangatte. Bull. Soc. Geol. de France, 3e Serie,

vol. viii. pp. 547-552.

100. Note on the Occurrence of a new Species of Iguanodon in a Brick-pit

of the Kimmeridge Clay at Cumnor Hurst, three Miles W.S.W. of
Oxford. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xxxvi. pp. 430-432.

1881.

101. On the Strata between the Chillesford Beds and the Lower Boulder

Clay. The Mundesley and Westleton Beds. Rep. Brit. Assoc.,
York, 1881, p. 620.

102. On the Extension into Essex, Middlesex, and other Inland Counties,

of the Mundesley and Westleton Beds, in relation to the Age of
certain Hill-gravels and of some of the Valleys of the South of
England. Rep. Brit. Assoc., York, 1881, pp. 620-622.

430 LIST OF PAPERS, BOOKS, ETC.

103. Some Observations on the Causes of Volcanic Action. Rep. Brit.

Assoc., York, 1881, pp. 610-613.

104. Letter on Section at St Edward's School, Summertown, Oxford.

Reprint from St Edward's School Chronicle, Dec. 12, 1881.

105. An Index Guide to the Geological Collections in the University

Museum, Oxford. 8vo. Oxford.

1882.

106. On the Occurrence of the Cyrena fluminalis at Summertown, near

Oxford. Geol. Mag., Dec. II., vol. ix., 1882, pp. 49-51.

107. On a Peculiar Bed of Angular Drift on the Lower Chalk High Plain

between Upton and Chilton. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xxxviii.
pp. 127-134.

1883.

108. Notes relating to some of the Drift Phenomena of Hampshire :

1. Boulders, Hay ling Island ; 2. Chert debris in the Hampshire
Gravel ; 3. Elephant Bed, Freshwater Gate. Rep. Brit. Assoc.,
Southampton, 1882, pp. 529, 530.

109. On the Equivalents in England of the " Sables de Bracheux," and on

the Southern Limits of the Thanet Sands. [Abstract] Ibid., pp.
538, 539.

1884.

110. A Letter on the Oxford Water-supply. Clarendon Press, 1884

(April).

1885.

111. Oxford Water-supply. Letters and Report. 8vo. Oxford, Clarendon

Press. Pp. 12.

112. On Underground Temperatures, with Observations on the Conduct-

ivity of Rocks, on the Thermal Effects of Saturation and Imbibition,
and on a Special Source of Heat in Mountain Ranges. Proc. Roy.
Soc., vol. xxxviii., 1885, pp. 161-168.

113. On the Agency of Water in Volcanic Eruptions, with some Observa-

tions on the Thickness of the Earth's Crust from a Geological Point
of View, and on the Primary Cause of Volcanic Action. Proc. Roy.
Soc., vol. xxxviii., 1885, pp. 253-260.

1 14. On Regional Metamorphism. Proc. Roy. Soc., vol. xxxviii., 1885, p.

425.

1886.

115. Geology, Chemical, Physical, and Stratigraphical. Vol. I. Chemical

and Physical. Svo. Clarendon Press, Oxford.

1887.

116. Considerations on the Date, Duration, and Conditions of the Glacial

Period, with reference to the Antiquity of Man. Quart. Journ. Geol.
Soc., vol. xliii. pp. 393-410.

LIST OF PAPERS, BOOKS, ETC. 431

1888.

117. Geology, Chemical, Physical, and Stratigraphical. Vol. II. Strati-

graphical and Physical. 8vo. Clarendon Press, Oxford.

118. Further Observations on the Correlation of the Eocene Strata in

England, Belgium, and the North of France. Quart. Journ. Geol.
Soc., vol. xliv. pp. 88-109.

119. Congres Geologique International : Discours du President [1888],

Reprinted in Compte Rendu du Congres, 1891, pp. 20-31.

120. The Atmosphere of the Coal-period. Geol. Mag., Dec. III., vol. v.

pp. 238, 239, 334, 335.

1889.

121. On the Recent Discovery of the Remains of the Mammoth in the

Valley of the Darent. Geol. Mag., Dec. II., vol. vi. pp. 113, 114.

122. On the Occurrence of Palaeolithic Flint Implements in the Neighbour-

hood of Ightham, Kent, their Distribution and Probable Age. ' Quart.
Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xlv. pp. 270-294.

1890.

123. On the Relation of the Westleton Beds, or Pebbly Sands of Suffolk, to

those of Norfolk, and on their Extension inland : with some Observa-
tions on the Period of the Final Elevation and Denudation of the
Weald and of the Thames Valley, &c. Part I. Quart. Journ. Geol.
Soc., vol. xlvi. pp. 84-117. Part II. Ibid., pp. 120-153. Part III.
On the Relation of the Westleton Shingle to other Pre-Glacial Drifts
in the Thames Basin, and on a Southern Drift, with Observations on
the Final Elevation and Initial Subaerial Denudation of the Weald,
and on the Genesis of the Thames. Ibid., pp. 155-181.

124. The Elevation of the Weald. Geol. Mag., Dec. III., vol. vii. pp. 479,

480.

1891.

125. On the Age, Formation, and Successive Drift-Stages of the Valley of

the Darent; with Remarks on the Palaeolithic Implements of the
District, and on the Origin of its Chalk Escarpment. Quart. Journ
Geol. Soc., vol. xlvii. pp. 126-160.

126. The Saiga Antelope in Britain. Geol. Mag., Dec. III., vol. viii. p. 190.

1892.

127. On the Primitive Characters of the Flint Implements of the Chalk

Plateau of Kent, with reference to the Question of their Glacial or
Pre-Glacial Age. With Notes by Messrs B. HARRISON and DE
BARRI CRAWSHAY. Journ. Anthrop. Inst., vol. xxi. pp. 246-262.

128. The Raised Beaches, and "Head" or Rubble-Drift of the South of

England : their Relation to the Valley Drifts and to the Glacial
Period ; and on a late Post-Glacial Submergence. Quart. Journ. Geol.
Soc., vol. xlviii. pp. 263-343.

432 LIST OF PAPERS, BOOKS, ETC.

1893.

129. The Position of Geology. (A chapter on Uniformitarianism.) Nine-

teenth Century, October 1893, p. 551.

130. On the Evidences of a Submergence of Western Europe, and of the

Mediterranean Coasts, at the Close of the Glacial or so-called Post-
Glacial Period, and immediately preceding the Neolithic or Recent
Period. Phil. Trans., vol. 184, pp. 903-984.

1894.

131. The Great Japanese Earthquake. Geol. Mag., Dec. IV., vol. i. pp.

191, 192.

132. On the possible Marine Origin of the Loess. Ibid., pp. 237, 238.

133. The Southern Drift. Ibid., pp. 476, 477.

1895.

134. Collected Papers on some controverted Questions of Geology. 8vo.

London.

135. On Certain Phenomena belonging to the Close of the last Geological

Period, and on their Bearing upon the Tradition of the Flood. 8vo.
London.

136. A Geological Inquiry respecting the Water-bearing Strata of the

Country around London, with reference especially to the Water-
supply of the Metropolis, and including some remarks on Springs.
(A Reissue, with Additions by the Author.) 8vo. London.

137. The Greater Antiquity of Man. Nineteenth Century for April.

138. Nature and Art. Geol. Mag., Dec. IV., vol. ii. pp. 373, 376.

POSTHUMOUS.

1898.

139. The Solent River. Geol. Mag., Dec. IV, vol. v. pp. 349-351.

140. Memoranda, chiefly on the Drift Deposits in various Parts of England

and Wales : being Extracts from the Notebooks and other MSS. of
the late Sir Joseph Prestwich. Ibid., pp. 404-417. [Communicated
by Lady Prestwich, and edited by H. B. Woodward.]

433

LIST OF SOCIETIES

TO WHICH

SIR JOSEPH PRESTWICH BELONGED.

Fellow of the Koyal, Geological, and Chemical Societies of London.

Associate of the Institute of Civil Engineers.

Correspondent of the Institute of France (Academy of Sciences).

Member of the Geological Society of France.

Honorary Member of the Imperial Geological Institute of Vienna ; of the
Koyal Academy of the Lincei of Rome ; Royal Academy of Sciences
of Belgium ; Anthropological Society of Brussels ; American Philo-
sophical Society ; Pontifical Academy of Rome ; Helvetic Society of
Natural Science ; Vaudois Society of Natural Sciences ; Literary and
Philosophical Society of Manchester; Belgian Society of Geology,
Palaeontology, and Hydrology ; Imperial Society of Emulation of
Abbeville ; Imperial Geological Society of Hungary ; Geological
Society of the North of France ; the Yorkshire Philosophical Society ;
the Edinburgh Geological Society ; and the Geological Society of South
Africa.

Corresponding Member of the Geological Society of Cornwall, and of the
Society of Natural History of Boston, U.S.A.

INDEX.

Abbeville, 118, 119, 122-124, 126,

127, 155, 179, 182, 189, 241.
Abbott, W. J. L., 362, 372.
Acland, Sir Henry D., 250, 256, 259,

306, 312, 328, 331, 340, 387, 398 ;

letter from, 374.
Adams, John, 5.
Aikin, John, 2.
Aix-les-Bains, 239.
Alderbury Hill, 357, 362, 376.
Allnutt, Mr, 84.
Alps, 115, 116.

American Philosophical Society, 209.
Amiens, 122, 124, 127, 146, 156, 160,

162, 163.
Ancestry, 1.
Ancona, 221.
Ansted, Prof. D. T., 250.
Anstie, John, 30.
Antiquity of man, 117, 127, 128, 145,

383, 412, 420.

'Antiquity of Man' (Lyell's), 176.
Aquarium, 77.
Archbishop of Rheims, 222.
Archiac, E. J. A. d', 72, 98.
Argyll, Duke of, 379 ; letter from the,

384.

Arms of Prestwich family, 5.
Arran, Isle of, 54.
Ash, 373.

Ashby-de-la-Zouch, 272.
Ashmolean Society, 312.
Athenaeum Club, 175.
Atlantis, 379.

Austen. See Godwin- Austen.
Autobiography, 10-13, 16-18, 20, 24,

30, 31, 398.
Auvergne, 172.

Axe valley-gravels, 173.
Axminster, 160.

Babbage, C., 172.

Bagshot Sands, 63.

Balfour, Prof. I. B., 335.

Ballast, 326.

Banffshire, 45, 48.

Barnes, C. L., 391.

Barnes, Thomas, 12.

Baronetcy conferred on Sir Thomas

Prestwich, 3 ; assumed by John

Prestwich, 4 ; further questions

relating to 273.
Barrande, J., 100.
Barrois, Dr C., 343.
Bartlett, Mr, 198.
Barton, W., 5.
Barton Clays, 104.
Bate, C. Spence, 203.
Bath, 58.

Bather, F. A., 391.
Battersea Fields, 11.
Beaumont, E. de, 128, 187, 188.
Beaumont, Major, 296.
Beauvais, 80.
Beckles, S. H., 112.
Bedford, Admiral, 245.
Bedford, 175, 188, 192 ; discovery of

flint- implements at, 163.
Belcher, Sir E., 245.
Belgium, 196.

Bell, A. M., 324, 346, 347.
Best, E., 174.
Beyrich, E., 343.
Bible and Geology, 268, 374, 375,

378, 394.
Biddenham, 165.

INDEX.

435

Binney, E. W., 171.

Birth of Joseph Prestwich, 9.

Blackdown Hill, Dorchester, 197,

241.
Blackmore, Dr H. P., 142, 357 ; letters

from, 362, 363, 375.
Blakeway, E., and family, 7-9, 25,

27, 29.

Blanford, W. T., 336.
Boisvilette, M., 165.
Bonaparte, Prof. R., 343.
Bone Case, the, 180.
Bones, preservation of, 160.
Bonney, Prof. T. G., 129, 229, 336,

400.

Boppart, 60.
Borghetto, 219.
Boscombe, 371.
Boulder, a large, 225.
Boulder Clay, 370 ; of Gower, 151 ;

of S. - W. of England and Wales,

152, 158.
Boulder Clay and valley drifts, 131,

133.

Boule, M., 390.

Boulogne, 29, 30, 80, 233, 238.
Boulonnais, 266.
Bourgeois, Abbe", 185, 187.
Bovey Tracey, 203, 204.
Bowerbank, Dr J. S., 59, 60, 227.
Brady, Sir A., 183.
Brandon, 304.
Braunton, 102.

Bristol, 49; coal-field of, 209, 212.
Bristow, H. W., 120, 129.
British Association, 46, 49, 54, 58,

210, 229, 310, 314, 316, 377;

offered the Presidency of the, 278.
Brixham Cave, 111, 120, 129, 130,

133, 145 ; report on, 224, 236.
Broadbent, Sir W., 396.
Broseley, visits to, 24, 30-32.
Brouillet, M., 277.
Brown, John, 144, 146, 191, 424.
Browning, R., 331.
Brunet, M., 280.
Buckland, Dr W., 30, 58, 65, 111,

139, 174, 265, 369.
Bullen, Rev. R. A., 352, 358, 363,

372, 386, 396, 398, 400; letter

from, 396.

Bunbury, Sir C., 165.
Burdett-Coutts, Lady, 112.
Burdiehouse, 47.
Bury, Dr F. C., 394-396, 399, 400.

Business, 40, 42, 84 ; retirement from,

236, 238.
Busk, G., 148, 179, 184, 236 ; letter

from, 278.

Calais, 196.

Calcaire Grassier, 24.

Caldy Island, 301.

Cameron, Rev. J., 271.

Campbell, J. F., letters from, 235,
300.

Canterbury, 157.

Capellini, Prof. G., 343, 380, 390.

Carlisle, 291.

Carnarvon, 138.

Carpenter, Dr W. B., 178, 180, 184,
226, 308 ; letters from, 322.

Castracane, Monsignor, 223.

Caudell, H., 270.

Cautley, Sir Proby, 111.

Cavell, E., 208.

Caverns, Bone, 111, 117, 120, 129,
130, 133, 137, 145, 152, 153.

Caves, Italian, 219.

Cefn Cave, 152, 153.

Challenge in reference to plateau im-
plements, 389, 394.

Chalk escarpment, 348.

Chalk-flints, 323.

Chambers, R., letter from, 142.

Chamouni, 116.

Channel Islands, 308, 310, 311.

Channel Tunnel, 246, 256.

Character and habits of Joseph Prest-
wich, 21, 27, 37, 39, 56, 331, 420.

Charles!., 2, 3.

Charnwood Forest, 272.

Chemical experiments, 21, 33-36.

Chesil Beach, 241, 243, 405.

Chiabrera, Signer, 219.

Choflfat, Senor, 343.

Christy, H., 148.

City life, 26, 33, 52, 56, 84, 99-102,
230, 236.

Clapham, Surrey, 7.

Clapham, Yorkshire, 248.

Clark, Sir Andrew, letter from, 348.

Clay with flints, 228.

Claypole, Prof. E. W., 343.

Clifton, Captain, 241.

Clifton, Prof., 259.

Clubs, in London, 59, 193, 194 ; at
Oxford, 253.

Clwyd, Vale of, 153.

Coal, Royal Commission on, 201, 211.

436

INDEX.

Coal-measures beneath south of Eng-
land, 296, 417.

Coal-pits, descents into, 31.

Coalbrook Dale, 24, 30-32, 46, 407.

Colchester, W., 207, 243, 313, 339.

Colin, M., 12.

Collections of fossils and rocks, 237.

Colleges for Women, 305.

Commercial room, 41.

Conularia, 24.

Conybeare, Rev. W. D., 35.

Copford, 146.

Corbicula. See Cyrena.

Cornet, M., 325.

Cornwall, 159.

Correlation of Eocene beds, 98-100,
102-105, 410.

Cradock, Rev. Dr, 260.

Crag district, 73, 147, 197.

Crag, Memoirs on, 207, 208, 225, 411.

Crawshay, De B., 324, 346, 352, 355,

356, 362, 373, 431.
Creation, six-days', 136.
Croll, Dr J., 333-335.
Culford, 314.
Cumnor, 306.
Cunnington, E., 241.
Cunnington, W., 75, 76, 86, 154.
Cyrena fluminalis (Corbicula conso-

' brina), 131-133, 161, 168, 314, 315.
Cyrena semistriata, 90.

Dallas, W. S., 250.
Dana, Prof. J. D., 308.
Dancing, passion for, 27, 101.
Darent-Hulme, 199, 200, 206, 209,
227, 230, 232, 237, 251, 261, 307,

357, 392.

Darent Valley, 354, 356.

Darwin, C., 360 ; letter from, 300.

Darwin, Prof. G. H., 372.

Daubree, A., 53, 172, 279, 304, 364,

382, 389 ; letter from, 390.
David, Prof. T. W. E., 390.
Davies, T., 250.
Dawkins, Prof. W. Boyd, 248.
Death of Joseph Prestwich, 400.
Degree, honorary, 340, 344.
De la Beche, Sir H. T., 35, 58, 59, 66,

67, 72, 92, 173, 175.
De la Harpe, Dr P., 106, 107.
Delanoue, M., 187.
Delesse, A., 53, 184, 187, 189-191.
Delgado, Colonel, 343.
Deluge, 310, 311, 366, 368, 387.

Deshayes, G. P., 48, 90.

Denny s, N., 36.

Denudation of the Weald, 69, 71, 91,

94.

Derbyshire, 167.
Desmarest, A. G., 403.
Desnoyers, J., 130, 184, 187, 217,

390.

Desor, E., 115.
Detroyat, M., 279, 280.
Devil's Den, 74.

Devon, North, 251 ; South, 203.
Dewalque, G., 343, 390.
Dewlish, 365.
Diaries of Mrs Prestwich (sen.), 9 ; of

Joseph Prestwich, 33-37.
Didcot, 269.
Dijon, 239.

Diluvial period, 70, 369.
Dorchester, 241.
Drainage, Metropolitan, 72.
Drawing lessons, 15.
Drifts, sequence of, 135 ; studies of,

68, 91, 122, 210, 243, 414.
Drucat, M., 135.
Dublin, 46.
Dumont, A., 87.
Duncan, Dr P. M., 233.
Dupont, E., 197.
Dura Den, 230.
Dutton, Capt. C. E., 327.

Earthquakes, 5, 225.

Earth's crust, 276, 331 ; age, 372.

Eastbourne, 265, 266, 293.

Easter excursions, 75, 76, 82, 87, 89,

92, 148, 162, 170, 176, 196, 203,

208, 210, 227, 233, 247, 266, 274,

277, 278, 305, 371.
Eastern counties, 157, 225.
Edinburgh, 47.

Edwards, F. E. (portrait of), 126.
Elephants, fossil, 113, 131, 346, 365.
Elizabeth, Queen, letter from, 1.
Ellacombe, Canon H. N., 393.
Engis skull, 196.
Eocene strata, correlation of, 98-100,

102-105, 409.
Eolithic implements, 357. See also

under Plateau.
Epernay, 48, 54, 80.
Erith, 131.

Escarpment, Chalk, 348.
Essex, Drift of, 68.
Etheridge, R., 308.

INDEX.

437

Etheridge, Mrs, 398.

Eudiometer, 34.

Evans, A. J., 294.

Evans, Sir John, 32, 55, 124, 125,
127, 128, 144, 162, 165, 167, 170,
171, 176, 179-181, 185, 189, 192,
197, 208, 236, 243, 266, 271, 276,
278, 292, 305, 314, 316, 356, 357,
372, 383, 388, 395, 397 ; meeting
with, 105; letters from, 163, 190;
rhymes by, 327, 329.

Everest, Rev. R., 112.

Ewelme, 284.

Excursions. See Easter and Geological.

Fairs, London, 10, 11.
Falconer, Charles, 215, 246, 304.
Falconer, Dr Hugh, 111-114, 117-
120, 123, 127, 128, 137, 139-141,

145, 151, 158, 176, 177, 179, 182,
184, 186-188, 236, 247, 412, 425 ;
letters from, 119, 130, 141, 152,
180 ; death of, 195.

Falmouth, 40, 159.

Faluns of Touraine, 103, 104.

Fareham, 257.

Farringdon, 76.

Father, death of Prestwich's, 101.

Ferguson, M., 159.

Field-classes at Oxford, 257.

Fisher, Rev. 0., 241, 270, 273, 275,

304, 314, 369, 372, 407.
Fisherton, 142.
Fishguard, 303.
Fitch, Robert, 155.
Fitton, Dr W. H., 58, 65, 74, 80, 82,

83 ; letter from, 80.
Flint implements, 117, 163, 167, 168,

324, 325, 329, 346, 352, 362, 412 ;

discovery of, 122, 126 ; fabrication

of, 128, 144, 182.

Flints, green-coated, 71 ; origin of, 323.
Floods, 86, 169, 310, 374, 375, 378,

380, 387, 415.
Flower, J. Wickham, 73, 98, 124,

146, 189, 198.
Fluviatile beds, 70.
Folin, Marquis de, 279.
Folkestone, 118-121, 273.
Fontainebleau Sands, 102-104.
Forbes, D., 232.

Forbes, Prof. E., 59, 76, 87, 89, 90,
92, 95, 98, 103, 104, 226, 245, 256;
letter from, 89, 90.

Forged implements, 128, 144, 182.

France, Geological Society of, 48, 53,
88, 312 ; elected Vice- President of,
381.

France, Institute of, elected a Corres-
ponding Member of the, 322.

Franks, Sir A. W., 125.

Frere, John, 125, 143.

Frome, 159.

Galton, Sir D., 148, 162, 196, 203,

210, 234, 241, 278, 279, 394.
Gamrie, 45.

Gardening, 232, 237, 261, 358.
Gardner, J. Starkie, 203.
Gamier, M., 159, 235.
Garrigou, Dr F., 187, 189.
Gaudry, A., 53, 88, 134, 142, 185,

187, 197,279, 293,322,343,364,

389; letter from, 401.
Geikie, Sir A., 59, 67, 223, 362, 373,

398, 402.
Genealogy, 1.

Gentleman, Chaucer's ideal of a, 318.
Geological excursions (see also under

Easter), 29, 73, 80, 158, 191-193,

197, 225, 271, 273, 308.
Geological papers, 314-316, 322, 394,

395, 402 (see also under Tertiary);

preparation of, 87.
Geological pupils, 390.
Geological Society, 35, 36, 401 ;

elected a Fellow of the, 40 ; elected

on Council, 57 ; award of Wollas-

ton Medal by Council of, 66 ; Secre-

tary of, 99 ; Treasurer of, 99 ;

elected President of the, 212-215 ;

Addresses to the, 226, 233.
Geological Society Club, 65.
Geological Society of France, 48, 53,

88, 312, 381.

Geological Survey, 173, 175.
Geologists' Association, 251, 347.
Geology of the Bible, 268.
Geology, controverted questions on,

383 ; practical, 417.
Geology, early studies of, 24.
Geology, Text-book of, 318, 328, 337,

339.

Germany, visit to, 60.
Gilbert, Prof. G. K., 343.
Glacial Period, 333, 334, 370. See

also Drifts.

Glacial submergence, 167.
GLaciers, Swiss, 116 ; of North Wales,

138.

438

INDEX.

Gladstone, W. E., letters from, 328,

378, 379, 387.
Glamorganshire, 137, 281.
Glasgow, 55.
Glencoe, 285, 286.
Glen Roy, 285, 298, 300.
Glen Spean, 287.
Gloucester, 281.
God win- Austen, R. A. C., 68, 73, 76,

82, 83, 87, 89, 92, 112, 120, 124,

128, 129, 152, 175, 189, 193, 196,

203, 238, 293, 294, 296, 312, 417;

letters from, 82, 128, 169, 187.
Goniometer, 35.
Gosselet, J., 234, 266, 343.
Gower coast and caves, 137, 139, 140,

149, 281.

Gravel sifter, the, 180, 181.
Gravels, high- and low-level, 97, 98,

169, 313, 376, 403, 412.
Gray, Prof. Asa, 308.
Grays, Essex, 97, 209.
Green, Prof. A. H., 250.
Green Street Green, 325, 352.
Greenough, G. B., 35, 40, 65.
Greenough Map, 173.
Greensand, Upper and Lower, 80.
Greenwell, Canon W., 377.
Ground beneath us, lectures on the,

96, 108.
Guernsey, 308.
Guidu, Dr, 279.

Gunn, Rev. John, 146, 155, 156, 159.
Gurney, Miss Anna, 155.
Guy Fawkes' Day, 17.

Hale, jun., Mr, 363.

Hall, Marshall, 250.

Hamilton, W. J., 174.

Hamy, E. T., 279.

Hard water, 201.

Harrison, B., 304, 313, 324, 325, 337,

341, 344, 346, 347, 349, 352, 355,

356, 359, 360, 364, 371, 372, 380,

394, 431.
Hastings, 73.

Haverfordwest, 283, 284, 301.
Hawkins, B. Waterhouse, 23.
Haw well, Rev. J., 391.
Hayling Island, 256.
Head, 360, 416.
Headon Hill Sands, 104.
Hubert, E., 88, 103, 104, 134, 185,

187, 217, 279, 304, 389.
Heddle, Prof. M. F., 230.

Heer, Rev. Dr 0., 166, 203.
Heim, A., 343.
Hempstead Beds, 102, 103.
Henslow, Rev. Prof. J. S., 143, 146,

148.

Hendred, East, 269, 321.
Hertford, 74, 171.
Hibbert, Dr S., 47.
Hicks, Dr H., 153.
High-level gravel, 98, 313, 386.
Hippopotamus, 169.
Holmfirth Flood, 86.
Holy Land, 213.
Home life (see also Darent-Hulme),

230, 236, 315, 358, 392.
Home studies, 27, 28, 33.
Homer, 378, 379.
Hook, The, 192.
Hooker, Sir J. D., 94, 106, 107, 170,

181, 246 ; letter from, 106.
Hopkins, W., 255, 276, 373.
Hordle, 329.
Horner, Leonard, 108, 109, 153; letter

from, 108.

Howorth, Sir H. H., 397.
Hoxne, 125, 144, 146.
Hudleston, W. H., 242, 250, 284.
Hughes, Prof. T. M'K., 137, 276-278,

305.
Hulke, J. W., 306, 344; letter from,

365 ; death of, 383.
Hull, Prof. E., 244.
Hull, 156, 157.
Hulme Hall, 2, 4.
Human jaw, 178, 180, 182, 186, 187,

189.

Hunt, Dr T. S. , 343.
Huntly, Dowager Marchioness of, 144.
Hurry, E., 43.
Hutton, W., 47.
Hutton, Dr J., 403.
Huxley, Right Hon. T. H., 96, 180,

181, 212, 213, 256, 318, 366;

death of, 388.
Hydro-geological map, 297.

I'Anson, Edward, 29, 35, 36, 74.

Ice of rivers, 415.

Ice-sheet, 370.

Ightham, 346, 356, 372.

Iguanodon, 306.

Ilfracombe, 251.

Implements, flint. See Flint and

Plateau.
Institute of France, 322.

INDEX.

439

International Exhibition of 1862, 171.
International Geological Congress, 336,

342.

Ireland, visits to, 45, 46, 50.
Irving, Rev. Dr A., 360.
Isle of Wight, 58, 71, 89, 309, 365.
Italy, visit to, 218.

Jackson, Dr John (Bishop of London),

20.

Jackson, Mr, 172.
James, Sir H., 297.
Jameson, Prof. R., 47, 54.
Jamieson, T. F., 300.
Jaw, human, 178, 180, 182, 186, 187,

189.
Jeffreys, J. Gwyn, 196, 203, 207,

208, 226, 227, 279 ; death of,

321.

Jerrold, D., 261.
Jersey, 308.
Jones, Prof. T. R., 148, 250, 372,

374, 377, 398.
Jowett, B., 305, 331.
Judd, Prof. J. W., 268, 307, 327, 336.
Jukes-Browne, A. J., 362.

Kaup, J. J., 227.

Keeping, H., 190.

Kelsey Hill, 157.

Kelvin, Lord, 256, 275, 276, 372,

373.

Kensington gravel-pits, 236.
Kentish Town well, 294.
Kerrera, 289.
Kessingland, 225.
King, Rev. S. W., 159.
King-crabs, 201.

Kingsley, Rev. C., letter from, 136.
Kingsmill, T. W., 382.
Knighthood, 397.
Koninck, L. G. de, 303.

Lady Margaret Hall, 305.

Lake, underground, 240.

Lambert, M., 87.

Lambeth, home at, 11.

Landriot, Dr, 222.

Landslip at Sheppey, 330.

Lapland, 169.

Lapparent, A. de, 343.

Lapworth, Prof. C., letter from, 330.

Lartet, E., 114, 134, 174, 180, 184,

187, 217, 390.
Latchmore, F., 333.

Laughing-gas, 34.

Lavender Hill, 10, 11.

Laws, E., 301.

Le Conte, Prof. J., 308; letter from,

326.

Lectures on chemistry, &c., 34-36.
Leech, Mr, 162.
Leckenby, J., 156.
Leidy, Prof. J., 363.
Letters to —

The Duke of Argyll, 385.
The Rev. R. A. Bullen, 353.
W. Colchester, 207, 208.
W. Cunnington, 76, 86.
Sir H. T. De la Beche, 72.
Sir John Evans, 106, 125, 149, 162,
164, 172, 184, 191-193, 197, 203,
210, 227, 233, 234, 274, 277, 292,
293, 295, 298, 299, 303, 304, 306,
310, 314, 317, 321, 324, 327, 332-
336, 350-352, 354, 355, 359, 360,
363, 367, 368, 373, 382, 388, 394.
Dr H. Falconer, 114, 117, 118, 120,
129, 130, 132, 137, 141, 149, 153,
155, 158, 160, 161, 166, 169, 173,
175, 184, 186-189, 191.
His father, 14, 18.
The Rev. 0. Fisher, 270, 275, 336,
372, 373, 383.

A. Gaudry, 381.

Sir A. Geikie, 350, 353, 360, 364.
Editor of 'Geologist,' 113.
R. A. C. Godwin-Austen, 294, 296.
His niece Gracie, 328.

B. Harrison, 313, 316, 325, 349,
366, 375, 382.

E. Hurry, 43, 44.

Sir J. D. Hooker, 107.

E. Lartet, 181.

W. Lonsdale, 64.

Sir John Lubbock, 97.

Sir Charles Lyell, 68, 70, 85, 91,

94, 98, 99, 102-104, 131, 132,

134, 143, 145, 146, 151, 166, 171,

205 239

J. C. Mansel-Pleydell, 242.
Jules Marcou, 319, 335, 340, 380.
Sir R. I. Murchison, 198, 212, 214,

229.

Captain F. Petrie, 268.
Dr G. Plarr, 348.
Lady Prestwich, 266, 267, 278-281.

C. Prestwich, 46-48.

The Duke of Richmond and Gordon,
297.

440

INDEX.

Letters to —

J. C. Scott, 311.

J. P. Scott, 307.

Mrs Russell Scott, 50, 60, 61, 84, 87.

Sarah Scott, 201.

Sophie Scott, 53, 77.

The Rev. W. S. Symonds, 262.

C. Thurburn, 147.

H. B. Tomkins, 273.

of sympathy on death of Prestwich,

401.

Lexden, 191.

Liddell, Very Rev. H. G., 249, 340.
Lie"ge, 196.
Lihou Island, 309.
Limpsfield, 347.
Limulus, 201, 202.
Lincei, Royal Academy of the, 380.
Lindley, Dr John, 32.
Lismore, 289.
Lithography, 23.
Lobley, Prof. J. L., 250.
Loch Laggan, 287.
Loch Leven, 286.
Loch Ryan, 291.
Loch Treig, 287.
Lochaber, 285, 298, 300.
Loess, 382.

Logan, Sir W. E., 175.
London Basin, the, 80.
London Clay, 63, 70.
London Clay Club, 59.
London, Carboniferous strata under,

294; drainage of, 72.
Longuemar, de, 277, 279.
Lonsdale, William, 35, 64, 65.
Loughborough, 291, 292.
Lowe, J., 100.
Lowestoft, 225.
Lubbock, Sir John, 97, 98, 148, 170,

176, 189, 313, 314, 334.
Lucas, Rev. P., 283.
Lucy, W. C., 281.
Lulworth, 242.

Lyell, Sir Charles, 35, 58, 65, 68, 83,
97-100, 102, 103, 108, 112, 124,
152, 158, 164, 165, 176, 177, 181,
188, 348, 403, 404, 419; letters
from, 100, 124, 204.
Lyell, Sir C., letter to the Rev. W.

S. Symonds, 158.
Lyell, Lady, death of, 239.
Lyme Regis, 308.

Maccagnone, 121.

Mackeson, H. B., 238.

M'Enery, Rev. J., 130.

Mackie, S. J., 118.

Maidenhead, 97.

Maiden Newton, 154.

Maillard, Abbe", 80.

Mallet, R., 406; letter from, 255.

Malvern Drift, 262.

Mammoth. See Elephants.

Man, antiquity of, 117, 127, 128, 145,
176, 383, 412.

Mansel-Pleydell, J. C., 241, 365.

Mantell, Dr G. A., 83, 181.

Mantovani, Signer, 222.

Maps, Field, 351.

Maps, Geological, 174, 319, 320.

Marcotte, M., 133, 143.

Marcou, Prof. J., 319.

Mark Lane, 52, 99-102, 230, 236.

Market Bos worth, 271.

Market Weighton, 156.

Marlborough, 74.

Marriage, 216.

Marsh, Prof. 0. C., 343.

Mass<§nat, M., 277.

Mastodon, 208.

Mathematics, 275.

Mayer-Eymer, C., 343.

Medal given by Charles I. to Sir T.

Prestwich, 3.
Meeson, R., 97, 115, 133.
Melville, Dr, 157.
Menchecourt, 126, 131, 132, 135, 143,

152, 178.
Mentone, 218.
Merian, P., 116.
Metamorphism, 324, 326, 406.
Metropolitan drainage, 72.
Mewslade Bay, 140, 150.
Mildmay, H. B., 353.
Milman, Dean, 204, 205.
Milne, Miss L., 311, 400.
Milne- Ed wards, A., 185.
Milne-Edwards, H0 185, 187.
Minet, W., 316.
Mitchell, Dr James, 34, 36.
Moel Tryfaen, 137, 166.
Moggridge, M., 218.
Mohl, Madame, 217.
Monte Cavo, 222.
Moore, J. C., 99, 291.
Morris, Prof. John, 32, 58, 73, 74, 76,
80, 87, 126, 135, 149, 156, 157,
159, 209, 228, 250, 284, 423.
Morte Point, 252.

INDEX.

441

Moseley, Prof. H. N., 321.

Mother, death of, 76.

Moulin Quignon, 135, 141, 178, 179,
182, 183, 185, 188.

Mount Sorrel, 272.

Mourlon, M., 248, 343.

Miiller, Max, 295.

Mumbles, the, 139.

Mundesley, 133, 145, 146, 166, 167.

Murchison, Sir Roderick I., 31, 35,
54, 55, 57, 83, 148, 169; letters
from, 83, 194, 211, 214, 226.

Museum, Oxford, 254.

Mushet, Mrs, 27.

Musk-ox, 97, 98.

Mylne, R. W., 124, 161.

Naples, 223.

Narberth, 303.

Natural History Society, 42.

Nature and art, 388.

Neocomian, 80.

Neumayr, M., 343.

Newton, E. T., 372.

Nicholson, Prof. H. A., 338.

Nicol, — , 76.

Nikitin, S., 343.

Noachian deluge, 310, 311, 366, 368,

374, 375, 378, 387.
Nomenclature, 103, 128.
Norfolk, 155, 159.
Northampton, 156.
Norwich, 50.
Norwood, Surrey, 17.
Note-books, 56, 102, 157, 158, 237,

350, 351.
Nummulites, 98.
Nyst, P. H., 196.

Oban, 289.

Odling, Prof. W., 259.

Oil-painting, 23.

Oldham, R. D., 343.

Overton Longville, 144.

Owen, Sir R., 112, 180, 181 ; letter
from, 250.

Owen versus Huxley, 180.

Oxford, Professorship of Geology at,
249 ; removal to, 253 ; excursions
round, 258 ; water-supply of, 258,
320, 322; life at, 259, 305, 331,
332, 374; museum at, 315; re-
moval from, 335 ; receives Hon.
degree of D.C.L. at, 340, 344;
pupils at, 390.

Pagham, 362.
Painting, 23.
Palaeolithic implements. See Flint

and Plateau implements.
PalaBolithic implements and Boulder

Clay, 336.

Palaeolithic man, 311.
Palseontographical Society, 58.
Palermo, 121.
Palestine, 214.
Pallas, P. S., 169.
Palmaria, 220.
Parallel roads of Glen Roy, 285, 299,

300.
Paris, school at, 12-17 ; visits to, 53,

148, 166, 216, 278.
Parish work, 353.
Paroxysmalism, 255.
Pattison, S. R., 39, 366.
Paviland Cave, 139, 149, 150.
Pavlow, Prof. A., 343.
Peek, Sir C. E., 355.
Pengelly, Miss, 129.
Pengelly, W., 112, 113, 129.
Pennystone iron-ore, 24, 30.
Pensbury, 9.
Perrin, M., 239.
Perthes, Boucher de, 119, 121-123, 125-

128, 134-136, 141-143, 154, 161,

178, 179, 181, 182, 184-187, 355,

412.

Peterborough, 144, 176.
Petrie, Captain F., 267.
Phillips, Prof. J., 248, 251, 270, 338,

366.

Philosophical Club, 194.
Philp, Mr, 111.
Pholas-borings, 69.
Physics, early studies in, 34,
Pilgrim's Progress, 393.
Pillet, M., 240.
Pinsard, M., 135, 158, 159, 161,

235.
Plants, Eocene, 71, 94, 106, 107 ;

fossil, from Mundesley, 166.
Plarr, DrG., 348, 351.
Plateau implements, 324, 337, 341,

346, 349, 352, 355, 356, 363, 373,

375, 377, 378, 382, 384, 385, 388,

389, 394.
Playfair, J., 403.
Pliocene. See Crag.
Ponzi, Prof. G., 223.
Portland, Isle of, 241-243.
Practical Geology, 417.

2 F

442

INDEX.

Prestwich, Civil, 9, 101, 102 ; letter

from, 49 ; death of, 202.
Prestwich, Edward, death of, 266.
Prestwich, Elias, 6.
Prestwich, Emily, 203.
Prestwich, Sir John, 4, 225.
Prestwich, Joseph, sen., 6-9, 56.
Prestwich, Sir Thomas, 3.
Prestwich (village), 1.
Prestwichia, 202.
Prevost, Constant, 48, 53.
Price, Prof. B., 320, 345 ; letter from,

401.

Prigg, H., 333.
Princes Risborough, 167.
Pritchard, Rev. C., 259, 268 ; letter

from, 337.

Professorship of Geology, 249.
Prytherch, family of, 8.
Public speaking, 213.
Pullen, Captain, 245.
Pury, M. de, 115.
Pycroft, Dr G., 180.
Pyrenees, 279.

Quaker family, 8.
Quartz-pebbles, 351.
Quaternary, 122, 125, 128, 370.
Quatrefages, A. de, 134, 179, 182, 184,

187, 190, 279.
Queen Elizabeth, letter from, 1.

Rae, Dr J., 306.

Railway sections, 350.

Raised beaches, 140, 150, 151, 360,

415.
Ramsay, Sir A. C., 67, 112, 117, 129,

138, 148, 297, 310, 311, 348.
Ramsay, Lady, letter from, 401.
Reading, fossil plants at, 94, 106, 107.
Recreation, 52.
Reculvers, 162.
Rees, Dr G. Owen, 29, 38, 49, 68,

207, 249, 304 ; letter from, 67.
Reid, Clement, 362, 412.
Religious views of Joseph Prestwich,

21.
Religion and science, 394. See also

Bible.

Renard, A., 343.
Renevier, Prof. K, 116, 343.
Retirement from business, 236, 238.
Reviews, 235, 244, 427, 428.
Rheims, Archbishop of, 222.
Rhos Sili Bay, 141, 151, 281.

Rhymes by Sir J. Evans, 327, 329.

Richthofen, Baron F. Von, 343, 382.

Rigaux, E., 238, 243.

Rigollot, Dr, 122, 123, 144.

Billy, Cakaire de, 88 ; Sables de, 80.

River-drift, 97, 98, 169, 313, 376,

403, 412.
River-ice, 415.
Riviere, E., 48, 218.
Rogers, Prof., 148.
Rolleston, Dr G., 259, 260; letter

from, 312 ; death of, 313.
Rome, 221 ; Royal Academy of Lincei

of, 380.

Roorkee, Professorship at, 92.
Roquette, S., 358.
Rose, C. B., 37.
Rouville, P. de, 390.
Royal Commissions, 194, 201, 202,

206, 207, 211.

Royal Institution, lecture at the, 192.
Royal Medal, 198.
Royal Society, 194, 306; elected a

Fellow of the, 91 ; chosen Vice-
President of the, 318.
Rubble Drift, 416.
Rudler, F. W., 344.
Rush Hill, springs at, 11.
Ruskin, John, 253 ; letters from, 168,

254.
Rutot, A., 343.

Sabine, Sir E., 245.

St Acheul, 126, 135, 159-161.

St Agnes, 159.

St Albans, 133.

St Andrews, 230.

St Clement's, Oxford, 265.

St David's, 283, 301.

St Paul's Cathedral, foundations of,

204.

Salisbury, 56, 376.
San Sebastian, 280.
Sanders, W., 175.
Sangatte Cliff, 196, 197.
Saporta, Marquis de, 343.
Schmerling Collection, 196.
School-days in London, 10, 11, 17 ;

in Paris, 12-17 ; at Reading, 17-20;
Science and Religion, 394. See also

Bible.

Scotland, visits to, 45, 46, 229, 285.
Scott, G., 359.
Scott, Russell, 51, 52, 58, 60, 65,

265, 293 ; death of, 306.

INDEX.

443

Scott, Mrs R., 84, 87, 352 ; death of,

376.

Scott, Sophia, 76.
Scrap-book, 30.
Scrope, G. P., 403.
Sea, deep, 226 ; temperatures of, 244,

404.

Seal, Great, of United States, 5, 6.
Sedgwick, Rev. Prof. A., 35, 41, 57,

93, 94 ; letter from, 93.
Seeley, Prof. H. G., 250, 308.
Serres, Marcel de, 131.
Settle Cave, 248.
Shakespeare's Cliff, 57.
Sharp, Samuel, 156.
Sharpe, D., 76, 83, 87, 92.
Shelley, P. B., home of, 221.
Sheppey, Isle of, 329.
Shields, Mr, 303.
Shode Valley, 372.

Shoreham, Kent, 346 ; purchase of
land at, 193; the home at — see
under Darent-Hulme.
ShornclifFe, 118.
Shotover Hill, 258.
Siberia, 169.
Siemens, Sir W., 316.
Skertchly, S. B. J., 304, 336, 352.
Smith, Mrs G. Murray, 27.

Smith, Prof. H. J. S., 259, 260;
death of, 317.

Smith, William, 40, 409.

Smyth, Sir W. W., 67, 210, 266,
278, 305.

Snowdon, 138.

Social life, 193.

Societies to which Prestwich belonged,
list of, 433.

Solent river, 386, 387.

Somerset coal-field, 209, 212.

Somerville, Mrs, 223.

Somerville Hall, 305.

Somme Valley, 129, 147, 148, 178,
185, 333.

Sonnet, 16.

Southampton, 316.

Southwold, 225.

Sowerby, J., 24, 32, 58.

Sowerby, J. de C., 59.

Spencer, Herbert, 285, 290.

Spezzia, 219-221.

Spottiswoode, W., 295, 306, 308, 314,
331 ; death of, 317.

Spratt, Admiral T. A. B., 226, 245,
256.

Springs at Rush Hill, 11.

Spurrell, — , 131.

Spurrell, F. C. J., 308.

Steenstrup, K. J. T., 343.

Stefanescu, Dr, 343.

Story, Rev. Dr, 286.

Strahan, A., 242.

Stranraer, 290.

Studer, B., 115.

Studies at home, 27, 28, 33.

Stur, D., 343.

Submergence, great, 167, 311, 361,

365, 368, 374, 384, 416.
Suffolk Lane, 102.
Summary of work, 402.
Sussex, erratics in, 359, 362.
Swalecliffe, 167.
Swansea, 310, 311.
Switzerland, 115.
Symonds, Rev. W. S., 158, 262.
Szabo, J., 343.

Tabrum, A. H., 393.

Tait, Prof. P. G., 372, 373.

Temperatures, deep - sea, 244, 404 ;
underground, 406.

Tenby, 301.

Tertiary geology, study of, 66 ; Me-
moirs on, 55, 63, 64, 73, 79, 86, 93-
96, 408.

Text-book of Geology, 318, 328, 337,
339, 418.

Thame, 83.

Thames Valley deposits, 131, 133.

Thieullen, A., 357.

Thomas, Captain, 137.

Thomas, Prof. A. P. W., 391.

Thomson, Sir C. W., 226, 244.

Thomson, Sir W. See Lord Kelvin.

Thurburn, Mrs, 358 ; death of, 341.

Tiddeman, R. H., 248, 315.

Tomes, Sir John, 179.

Tomkins, H. B., 273, 274.

Tomkins, General W. P., 398.

Topley, W., 336, 341, 344, 347, 372.

Terrell, Dr 0., 184, 343.

Tournal, M., 131.

Treasure, hidden, 4.

Trees, planting of, 65.

Trimmer, J., 91, 92, 152, 153, 166.

Turner, Dr Edward, 20, 24, 35.

Tylor, Alfred, 73, 76, 87, 180, 188,
193.

Tylor, E. B., 354.

Tyndall, Prof, J., 270.

444

INDEX.

Underground temperatures, 406.
Uniformitarianism, 255, 319, 334,
360, 362, 367, 369, 373, 381, 418.
United States, Great Seal of, 5, 6.
University College, London, 20, 22.

Valley gravels. See River-drift.

Valley of Rocks, 74.

Valleys, excavation of, 384, 385, 403,

413.

Valpy, Dr Richard, 17, 18.
Van Beneden, E., 196, 197, 343.
Vectine, 82.

Verneuil, E. de, 222, 223.
Vesuvius, 223, 405.
Vibraye, X. de, 185, 187, 208, 390.
Victoria Cave, 172, 248.
Vivian, E., 121, 130.
Vivian, Sir H. (Lord), 311.
Volcanoes, 326, 330, 405.

Walcott, C. D., 343.

Wales, ice action in, 138.

Wallace, A. R., 250, 359, 360.

Wallich, Dr G. C., 226.

Walsingham, 159.

Waltzing, 27.

Wandsworth, 10.

Warburton, H., 65.

Ward, Dr, 295.

Warden Point, Sheppey, 329.

Warington, R., 20.

Warwick, 271.

Watchet, 252.

Watelet, M., 210.

Water, hard, 201.

Water, Royal Commission on, 194,

211.
Water-bearing strata, book on the, 84,

383.

Water-cure, 60-63.
Water-supply, national, 298.
Water-supply of Oxford, 258, 320, 322.
Water-supply, researches on, 78, 360,

417.

Waterloo, battle of, 12.
Watts, Prof. W. W., 332.

Weald, denudaticn of the, 69, 71, 91,

94.
Well at Darent-Hulme, 199 ; at Green

Street Green, 325.
Westleton shingle, 225, 349.
Weston-super-Mare, 323.
Weymouth, 197, 240, 241.
Weymouth anticline, 242.
Whincopp, W., 207, 208.
Whitaker, W., 80, 325, 351, 409.
Whitstable, 167.
Wicken, 339.
Wight, Isle of, 58, 71, 89, 309, 365;

disturbances in, 71.
Wigtown, 291.
Willett, H., 352.
Williams, G. H., 343.
Williams, H. S., 343.
Wilson, DrG., 59.
Wiltshire, Rev. Prof. T., 307.
Wimborne, 387.
Wines, report on, 171.
Wissant, 238.
Wollaston Medal, 66.
Wolverton, 171.
Wood, E., 171.
Wood, Colonel E. R., 137, 139, 140,

150, 158, 247 ; letter from, 247.
Wood, S. V., 126, 412, 425.
Woodward, Dr H., 58, 201, 250, 397.
Woodward, H. B., 33, 79, 155, 432.
Woodward, S., 50.
Woodward, S. P., 147, 152.
Worcester, 40.
Wrangell, 169.

Wren, Sir Christopher, 204, 205.
Wyatt, James, 163-165, 175, 188.

Xiphosura, 202.

Yarnton, 258.
York, 314.
Yorkshire, 156.

Zetetical Society, 38.
Zirkel, F., 343.
Zittel, K. A. Von, 343.

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