442 
NATORE 
[ MarcH 7, 1907 
Mines. This teaching decided the direction of his 
life’s work along the traditional lines of the school 
of which he was in turn a student, an instructor, and 
one of the most distinguished professors from the 
year 1886. 
It is a special feature of the French Geological 
Survey to avail itself of the help of outside pro- 
fessional geologists, such as university professors and 
teachers, by engaging them during the summer 
holidays as auxiliary collaborateurs. It is in that 
“way that Marcel Bertrand was induced to carry out 
during the summer months of several years a series 
of field observations in the Jura mountains, with the 
view of publishing detailed geological maps of the 
region. It was quite natural that the growing 
interest of the young geologist was excited by 
the structure of this district—classical for the relative 
regularity of its foldings. 
In 1881 Bertrand was led in the same way to 
investigate the geology of Provence, where a simple 
appearance hides extreme complexity of structure. 
It was there that, after several occasional visits to 
the Alps, he was able to bring new light to bear on 
the earth’s anatomy. He was the first to perceive 
that the foldings of the pre-Alps have been altered 
in depth by the older horst of Maure Mountains, and 
have resulted in extensive overfoldings, which later 
on have been again obliquely plaited by more recent 
compression. These investigations culminated in 
1887 in the publication of his ‘‘ Memoire sur le 
Beausset (Var),’? which, notwithstanding its short- 
ness and local character, was received with lxeen 
interest by Continental geologists. It was for them 
the starting point for further inquiries upon new 
forms of disturbances, and especially upon those long 
recumbent folds the horizontal extension of which is 
so great that they are frequently spoken of as sheets. 
Bertrand’s great experience of the coal mines of 
the north of France afforded him the opportunity of 
detecting that overthrusts of the same amplitude had 
taken place at the close of the Carboniferous period. 
He expounded these similarities in his memoirs upon 
“Les Rapports de Structure des Alpes de Glaris et 
du Bassin Houiller du Nord,’? where it was sug- 
gested, for the first time, that the famous dopple 
fold of Glaris might be regarded as a single ex- 
aggerated overfold coming from the south. This 
explanation is now accepted by Prof. Heim himself. 
In 1896 Bertrand wrote a preface to introduce to 
the French public a translation of Suess’s ‘‘ The Face 
of the Earth.’ If anyone should deny to scientific 
men the gift of expressing their ideas in a concise 
and adequate style, reference should be made to this 
brilliant and lucid account of the progressive develop- 
ment of structural geology from the first attempts 
of Leopold de Buch and Elie de Beaumont to the 
synthesis of Suess involving the whole surface of 
our planet, or the minute re-construction of the 
former orography of the Highlands by Prof. Lap- 
worth. 
In 1896 Bertrand was elected a member of the 
Académie des Sciences to fill the chair left vacant 
by the death of Pasteur. In 1900 he took a large 
part in the organisation of the Paris meeting of the 
International Geological Congress. He contributed 
two papers on the geology of the Western Alps, and 
personally directed one of the excursions in that 
district. {t was the last gratification of his life, for 
Shortly after he suffered great affliction by the death 
of his daughter, who was buried by a sand-slip when 
geologising with him. 
It is deeply to be regretted that such a gifted man 
has passed away without having fulfilled his possibili- 
ties. He scattered some of his original ideas in short 
NO. 1949, VOL. 75] 
papers which appeared from 1884 until 1900, chiefly 
in the Comptes rendus of the French Academy of 
Sciences, in the Annales des Mines, and in the 
Bulletin of the Geological Society of Paris. But he 
did not concentrate his abilities upon a great scientific 
work which might have been compared to the 
volumes by Prof. Suess. Our only consolation is the 
power he possessed to impart his spirit to his 
students and to the number of his disciples, such as 
MM. de Launay, Lugeon, Termier, Cayeux, Ritter, 
&e., whom he left behind fitted to carry on his work. 
M. M. ALLORGE. 
HeG. RUSSELL, SGsVinGsi hese 
THE announcement of the death of Mr. H. C. 
Russell, who for nearly forty years was among 
the foremost representatives of science in the colony 
of New South Wales, has been received with great 
regret by many men of science. Since 1870 
he held the post of Government astronomer and 
director of the Sydney Observatory, in succession to 
Mr. G. R. Smalley, and in that capacity rendered 
most important services to the colony. His first duty 
on appointment was to organise the resources of the 
colony for the observation of the transit of Venus. 
With small funds, little skilled assistance, and short 
time for preparation, he nevertheless succeeded in 
equipping several stations in a _ highly efficient 
manner, reflecting great credit upon the readiness of 
the colonists and the exertions of the observatory 
staff. 
Thenceforward the observatory pursued a course 
marked by continually increasing usefulness, culmin- 
ating in the acceptance of a share in the international 
photographic chart of the heavens. The zone 
allotted to this observatory extends from —52° to 
—64° declination, and under Mr. Russell’s direction 
the task advanced far towards completion. But in 
the course of the work it was found that considerable 
improvement might be effected if the telescope were 
removed to a_ station remote from the town of 
Sydney. The director had long advocated the re- 
moval of the observatory, and the mounting of the 
photographic equatorial at Red Hill probably pre- 
sages the abandonment of the Sydney site. The 
measurement of the plates is being prosecuted on a 
common plan with those taken at Melbourne, and 
one of the latest papers from Mr. Russell has refer- 
ence to an improved form of micrometer for the 
measurement of these plates. Mechanical devices 
always had great interest for the late director, and 
he paid great attention to special forms of driving 
clocks for equatorials. 
But most of all the colony is indebted to him for 
his organisation of the meteorological service. He 
had charge of a district of the climate of which little 
was known, and as the colony extended and the 
population occupied areas of unexplored country, he 
had to widen the range of his inquiry in order to 
supply the necessary information to intending 
settlers. The long series of observations that he 
published on climate factors, especially those having 
reference to rain, evaporation, and state of the rivers, 
attest to his industry, his powers of organisation, 
and his recognition of the requirements of a young 
and rising colony. He put it on record that when 
he assumed office there were but five rain-gauges 
in the colony. On his retirement there were some- 
thing like two thousand. His discussion of the 
results has scarcely been as happy as his collection. 
He seems to have relied upon statistical methods 
rather than on physical facts, and in this way was 
led to suggest a theory which would make the 
