88 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



THE LATE PROFESSOR RALPH TATE, F.G.S., F.L.S., &c. 



It is with deep regret we record the death of one of the 

 honorary members of the Field NaturaHsts' Club of Victoria, 

 Professor Ralph Tate, F.G.S., of Adelaide, who died on 20th 

 September, at the age of 61. The late professor showed his 

 inclination for natural science at an early age, having commenced 

 the study of geology when only 12 years old. Six years 

 later he was rewarded for his industry by an exhibition of ;!^8o 

 per annum at the Royal School of Mines, London. After 

 completing his two years' course he engaged in teaching and 

 lecturing, principally on geological subjects, in London and 

 other parts of England. In 1867 he visited Central America 

 and Venezuela as a mineralogical expert. Returning to England, 

 he became director of some mining schools in Durham. In 1875 

 he was appointed Elder Professor of Natural Science at the 

 Adelaide University, a position which he occupied up to the 

 time of his death. In this position Professor Tate's name 

 became widely known throughout Australia as a hard-working 

 naturalist, and it was only fitting that on the foundation of the 

 Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, in 

 1888, he should be chosen as the first president of the Biological 

 Section, and as such he delivered to the opening session in Sydney 

 an able address on " The Influence of Physiographic Changes 

 in the Distribution of Life in Australia," in which he dealt 

 principally with the botanical features in relation to the physical 

 features of the continent. He also contributed at that meeting 

 six papers to Sections C (Geology) and D (Biology). When 

 the Association met in Adelaide in 1893 he was its 

 president, and his inaugural address, entitled " A Century of 

 Geological Progress," was a splendid resume cf the Geological 

 History of Australia to that time, thus showing the versatility 

 of the man. In 1877 he announced in a public lecture the 

 existence of a well-preserved glacier path along the edge of 

 the sea cliffs at Hallett's Cove, a few miles south of Adelaide. 

 He was an honorary or corresponding member of most of 

 the scientific societies of Australia, besides many in other parts 

 of the world. His forte was conchology and palaeontology, 

 but in this brief notice it is impossible to enumerate his con- 

 tributions to scientific literature, which were very extensive and 

 embraced a vast range of subjects. Several articles from his pen 

 on palseontological matters appeared in the Southern Science 

 Record. The only paper he contributed to the Field Naturalists' 

 Club was a conchological one, entitled " On Voluta undulata 

 and Allied Species," which was published in the Vict. Nat., vol. v., 

 p. 158, and cleared up the synonomy of the Volutes of the southern 

 coast. He was always fond of doing his own collecting, and thus 



