Thomas George Bonney

“ His leisure was devoted to the study of geology, on which subject he published some twenty-three papers, nine of them appearing in the ‘Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society.’ These deal with the granite of Dartmoor, the carboniferous, and the new red sandstone rocks of Devonshire, and the Cheshire saltfield. Others were published in the ‘Transactions’ of the Devonshire Association, of which he was an original member. But he will be more gratefully remembered by geologists for his exhaustive index to the ‘Transactions,’ ‘Proceedings,’ and ‘Quarterly Journal’ of the Geological Society. ”

“ He made mistakes, but in his days geology was almost in its infancy; and the generation which succeeded him, while professing to correct and improve his work, not once only went wrong where he had been right—chiefly owing to the want of his sound knowledge of mineralogy and his inductive habit of thought. For instance, he duly appreciated the intrusive character of certain 'traps' in the Western Islands, the nature of the gabbros of the Cuchullin Hills, and the existence of three types of red sandstone in Scotland. ”

“ The exploration of the Brixham Cave was begun in 1858, under the auspices of the Royal and the Geological Societies of London. This proved man to be contemporary with several large extinct animals, and the work in Kent's Hole at Torquay furnished additional evidence, with many new and important particulars. The latter place had been partially investigated by the Rev. J. MacEnery, the results of whose work had been received with general incredulity, and by Pengelly himself, with some local assistance, in 1846 ”

“ Macculloch was also appointed about 1814 geologist to the trigonometrical survey, and was lecturer on chemistry and mineralogy at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. Later in life he held a similar appointment at the East India Company's College at Addiscombe, and he was nominated in 1820 physician to Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, and was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in the same year. In 1826 he was commissioned to prepare a geological map of Scotland. ”

“ WILKINSON, CHARLES SMITH (1843–1891) , geologist, was born in Northamptonshire in 1843, his father, David Wilkinson, being an engineer who had been associated with George Stephenson [q. v.] in designing the first locomotive. The family went out to Australia in 1852, settling in Melbourne, where the boy was educated. In 1859 he was appointed for a time on the geological survey of Victoria, and he surveyed the district from north of Bass Strait to Ballarat in 1861 ”

“ They gave him opportunities for the study of natural history of which he was not slow to avail himself, and before long he became known as a keen and accurate observer. A paper read before the meeting of the British Association at Plymouth in 1841 brought him to the notice of leading men of science, who in 1844 urged Sir R. Peel to give Peach a more lucrative position. ”

“ In geology he was the first to discover fish remains in the Devonian rocks of the south-west, fossils which determined the age of the quartzites of Gorran Haven and of the Durness limestone of Sutherlandshire. ”

“ In addition to official work, Oldham communicated twelve papers on the geology of Ireland to the Dublin Geological Society, or to the British Association, and in 1849 had the good fortune to discover, in the Cambrian, or slightly older, rocks of Bray Head, co. ”

“ His minor scientific papers are seventy-nine in number, the majority being geological, but they also deal with such subjects as malaria, an indelible ink, the naturalisation of plants and animals—for instance, of marine fishes in fresh water—how crabs part with their claws, Greek fire, and the use of lights or fires in fisheries. ”

“ WILLIAMS, DAVID (1792–1850) , geologist, son of John Williams of Barry, Glamorganshire, was born at Bleadon in 1792. He matriculated from Jesus College, Oxford, on 24 Oct. 1810, proceeding B.A. in 1814 and M.A. in 1820. Prior to this he was ordained, and in 1826 was presented to the vicarage of Kingston and the rectory of Bleadon, both in Somerset. The latter place appears to have been his residence, but he died at Weston-super-Mare on 7 Sept. 1850. He was elected F.G.S. in 1828, and in 1831 published his first paper, and continued to write at intervals on geological subjects till 1849. ”

“ These form four sets: (1) ‘Annual Reports,’ commenced in 1858; (2) ‘Records,’ commenced in 1868; (3) ‘Memoirs’ (on separate districts) , commenced in 1859; (4) ‘Palæontologica Indica,’ that is, descriptions and figures of the organic remains obtained during the survey. ”