326 Obituary Notices of Fellows deceased. 



the lowest Cambrian rocks and the older schists beneath, a view how- 

 ever which, in those early days, was not accepted by his colleagues, 

 excepting, perhaps, De la Beche. He also did some survey-work on less 

 ancient formations in Shropshire. 



He had a share in no less than sixteen of the Geological Survey 

 Maps, some of which are of a very detailed character, and, indeed, are 

 monuments of early mapping; also in six sheets of Sections, across 

 difficult country. 



Sir A. Ramsay did not fail to acknowledge the excellence of 

 Selwyn's work, and with another genial member of the staff, J. B. 

 Jukes, a great friendship was also formed. 



Passing to the colonial work, in which the greater part of his life 

 was spent, on getting to Victoria, Selwyn soon undertook the investi- 

 gation of gold-bearing rocks and gravels, and prepared various reports 

 and papers on the economic geology of the colony. 



Unfortunately, however, this valuable work came to an end in 1869, 

 when the legislature, with short-sighted economy, refused to grant the 

 funds that were needful for the continued progress of the Survey. 

 But Selwyn's services were secured by another colony, which has had 

 the honour of keeping up a highly efficient Geological Survey for many 

 years, a survey which has enriched geologic knowledge and advanced 

 its practical applications in a marked degree, very largely through 

 Selwyn's able guidance. 



It is indeed in connection with the Geological Survey of Canada that 

 Selwyn will be best remembered, as he spent a quarter of a century of 

 his official life as its Director, an appointment made on the recom- 

 mendation of the retiring chief, Sir W. Logan, whose earlier work was 

 done in South Wales, as Selwyn's was in North Wales. 



Selwyn began his duties in Canada at a time when the confederation 

 of some of the provinces of that great colony had but just been carried 

 out. In consequence of that confederation, the area of Canada, and 

 therefore the sphere of the Geological Survey work, considerably 

 increased. 



Here, as in Victoria, he strove to advance geology from the practical 

 and economic side, as well as from what is termed the purely scientific 

 side, making many investigations and explorations that were of great 

 practical value. Indeed Selwyn may be instanced as one of those 

 broad-viewed geologists who realised that a Government Survey is not 

 established simply for the exploitation of difficult scientific problems 

 (some of which may be beyond the reach of most of those observers 

 who take up geology as a highly enjoyable pursuit), but also for the 

 careful recording of facts and for bringing those facts to bear on 

 questions of public utility. He tried to make the Canadian Geological 



