384 Biographical Notice of Edward Forbes. 
correcting the errors of previous inquirers, and confirming a sug- 
gestion made by Mr. Prestwich, that the strata composing a part 
of Hempstead Hill were probably higher than any beds hitherto 
noticed. ‘The result of Prof. Forbes’s inquiries has been to show 
that, taking the Whitecliff Bay section for an example, the Headon 
Hill beds, instead of constituting the highest portion of the series, 
are overlaid by several other distinct formations, consisting of the 
St. Helen’s or Osborne beds and the Bembridge series, the latter 
consisting of several distinct divisions, all characterized by pecu- 
liar fossils, chiefly, however, freshwater or brackish. He has, 
moreover, distinctly ascertained that the Hempstead Hill series 
constitutes another subdivision overlying the uppermost bed of 
the Bembridge series, and characterized by a fresh set of fossils. 
Thus,” to use the author’s words, “we find that the fluvio- 
marine EKocenes of the Isle of Wight are more than twice as thick 
as they have hitherto been regarded, and that the additional beds 
are even of greater geological importance than those hitherto re- 
cognized.” 
The remarkable feature in this section is, that from the Barton 
series upwards there is no break in the series of deposits ; and as 
Prof. Forbes identifies the Hempstead series with the middle, and 
possibly the upper Limburg beds of Belgium, he is logically led 
to the conclusion, that the Limburg beds, and consequently the 
Weinheim beds of the Mayence basin, which are unquestionably 
of the same age as the Middle Limburg, must be also Eocene. 
Other continental beds are also referred to as necessarily belong- 
— to this Eocene period. his is not the case : offer any criti- 
m on Edward Forbes’s conclusions, but I n rhaps_ here- 
after allude to the question, for the purpose of cet whether 
there may not exist some flaw in the argument, by which so 
many of the younger continental beds are drawn into this Eocene 
vortex. 
During this period Prof. Forbes was not only most industrious 
with his pen, but he was unwearied in his arrangement and classi- 
fication of the vast accumulation of fossils collected by the Ord- 
nance Geological Survey, and now exhibited in the Jermyn Street 
Museum. He was no less active in the field with his hammer 
and his note-book. He not only explored various parts of Eug- 
ate Wales, and Ireland, but he visited with the same observant 
and comprehensive glance, many portions of Belgium and of 
Haw. carefully comparing their various aspects and phenomena, 
and procuring materials for his philosophical generalizations. 
t is unnecessary for me to remind you of the satisfaction with 
which we hailed his appointment to the Presidentship of this So- 
ciety, looking forward to the influence of his profound knowledge 
of paleontology on the future progress of our science. But 
scarcely had he occupied his chair for half the allotted term, when 
