Henry Alley ne Nicholson. 37 



to a large extent in chronological order, and the ' Manual of Palaeon- 

 tology,' of which the third edition, written in collaboration with Mr. 

 R. Lydekker, has appeared in a greatly enlarged form in two volumes. 



The original writings of the late Professor treated of a great variety 

 of subjects, zoological, palaaontological, and geological. Concerning 

 existing organisms he wrote little though he reported upon the deep 

 water fauna of Lake Ontario, and his report was published by the 

 Legislature of Ontario; it is however by his geological writings and 

 especially by those which treat of palaeontology, that he has made his 

 mark as an original investigator. 



He wrote about 200 papers and memoirs, dealing with a great variety 

 of subjects, both stratigraphical and palseontological ; the most impor- 

 tant were devoted to the study of some of the comparatively lowly 

 organisms which once inhabited the earth, especially the Hydrozoa and 

 Actinozoa. One of his earliest publications was a contribution to. the 

 study of the graptolites, 'A Monograph of the British Graptolitidee ' 

 (1872), which was never completed : this work and the separate memoirs 

 which Nicholson wrote, dealing with this group, will cause him to be ever 

 associated with Barrande, Hall, and Lapworth as a pioneer in the study 

 of a group of fossils of great importance. He not only contributed 

 largely to our knowledge of the morphology and classification of the 

 graptolites, but utilised them with great success as aids to stratigraphi- 

 cal research, and it is of interest to learn that in his later years he 

 returned with enthusiasm to the study of these, his early favourites. 

 From among Nicholson's many other writings, we may select for special 

 mention his work on ' The Structure and Affinities of the Tabulate 

 Corals of the Palaeozoic Period ' (1879), and the ' Monograph of the 

 British Stromatoporoids,' published by the Palaeontographical Society, 

 which was commenced in 1885 and completed in 1892. 



Professor Nicholson's stratigraphical work was chiefly done in our 

 English Lakeland and the adjoining regions ; in this work he utilised 

 his palseontological knowledge with much success, and accordingly 

 his papers on the district have far more than a local value. He no 

 doubt made occasional mistakes who has not? but they are alluded 

 to here for a particular reason. Far from being annoyed when others 

 detected his errors, Nicholson was really grateful to those who cor- 

 rected him. 



It was during the prosecution of his researches among the rocks of 

 Lakeland that the writer of this notice first met Nicholson, and since 

 that first meeting, he has spent many happy weeks with him, wander- 

 ing over the fells of that fascinating region. It was at these times 

 that Nicholson's character was so perfectly revealed. Always eager 

 for work, he let slip no opportunity of enlarging his knowledge of the 

 district. Of his work we can make some estimate by what he has left 

 behind him, but no one can calculate the inestimable benefits which his 



