July 2, 1896J 



NA TURE 



203 



and the antiquity of man came to be the most absorbing 

 topic of the day. That vexed question still remains a 

 matter under discussion, although I'restwich, in some of 

 his later articles, has sought rather to reduce than to 

 extend the time-limits of man's existence. 



Subjects of practical importance from time to time 

 engaged his attention. In 185 1 he published ".^ Geo- 

 logical Inquiry respecting the Water-Bearing Strata of 

 the country around London," a work which at once 

 became the standard authority on the subject, and has 

 lately been reissued with appendices. The author took 

 a prominent part on the Royal Commission on Metro- 

 politan Water Supply in 1867, and his services were 

 again in request on the Royal Coal Commission, to the 

 reports of which, published in 1871, he contributed 

 accounts of the Bristol and Somerset Coal-field, and 

 of the probable extent of Coal-measures beneath the 

 Secondary rocks of the south and south-east of England. 

 .Agreeing generally with the conclusions of his friend 

 ("lOdwin-.Austen, he was led to infer that concealed coal- 

 fields might extend from Somersetshire eastwards to 

 the neighbourhood of Folkestone. .Subsequent explora- 

 tions at Dover have shown the correctness of these 

 theoretical views. 



I'restwich was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 

 1853, and was appointed a Vice-President in 1870. In 

 that same year he was chosen President of the Geological 

 .Society, and in the course of his two addresses he dealt 

 with the subjects of deep-sea researches, and water- 

 supply. 



His attention had been given at various intervals to 

 the later Tertiary deposits, and in 1871 his three great 

 papers on the structure of the Crag-beds of Suffolk and 

 Norfolk were published by the Geological Society. So 

 much had been written by others on these very fossili- 

 ferous strata, that the author had not scope for so much 

 originality as was the case with his Eocene researches. 

 These later papers were, however, characterised by the 

 same exhaustive treatment of the subject, in the record 

 of many sections, and in the enumeration of the organic 

 remains. His memoirs on the Pliocene or Crag formations 

 were eventually followed by a series of articles dealing 

 with more recent deposits. In the meanwhile Prestwich, 

 who had retired from business in 1872, was offered the 

 chair of Geology at Oxford, vacant through the death 

 in 1874 of John Phillips. It came rather as a surprise to 

 his friends that a man who had achieved such distinction 

 and had earned repose should again go into harness. A 

 young and ardent teacher would, however, at that time 

 have been out-of-place, and, as e\cnts proved, no one 

 better than Prestwich could have been selected to fill the 

 post with such ad\antage to the l^niversity. 



One result of his labours in Oxford was his large and 

 handsomely illustrated work, in two volumes, entitled 

 "Geology Chemical, Physical, and Stratigraphical" — a 

 work in which he opposed the strictly uniformitarian 

 teachings of some geologists, and urged that, though the 

 agents were similar in kind in past ages, they were not 

 similar in degree to those of the present day. Retiring 

 from Oxford in 1 888, Prestwich again surprised his many 

 friends by his renewed activity. Paper after paper issued 

 from his pen, dealing with the most difficult problems 

 connected with the later superficial deposits — notably his 

 memoir read before the Royal Society on the "Evidences 

 of a Submergence of Western Europe and of the 

 Mediterranean Coasts at the close of the Glacial or so- 

 called Post-Glacial Period." He dealt also with the 

 rudely-made plateau flint-implements of the Chalk 

 Downs, many of them found near his Kentish home. 

 .■\lthough individually they would not attract much 

 notice, he maintained that these rudely-chipped flints bore 

 traces of human workmanship, and collectively showed 

 evidence of a peculiar type of earlier date than the ordinary 

 Palaeolithic implements. 



NO. 1392, VOL. 54] 



These later writings of Prestwich have initiated many- 

 new lines of inquiry, even if they have failed to carry 

 conviction to all his readers. 



The last honour bestowed upon him, in the early part 

 of this year, was that of knighthood, which he was. 

 unable to accept in person from Her Majesty owing to- 

 his feeble health. He died on June 23, at his home, 

 Darent Hulme, near Shoreham. H. B. W. 



NOTES. 

 The Albert Medal 01 the Society of Arts has been awarded,, 

 with the approval of II. R. H. the Prince of Wales, the President 

 of the Society, to Prof. David Edward Hughes, F.R.S., "ii» 

 recognition of the services he has rendered to arts, manufac- 

 tures, and commerce by his numerous inventions in electricity 

 and magnetism, especially the printing telegraph and the micro- 

 phone." 



The Swiss Society of Electrical Engineers is organising an- 

 International Electrical Congress, which is to take place at 

 Geneva from August 4 to August 9 next, under the presidency 

 of M. Turrettini. The following subjects are to be discussed at 

 the Congress: (x) Magnetic Units, (2) Photometric Units, (3) 

 Transmission and Distribution of Power to Great Distances by 

 means of {a) Direct Currents, (1^) Alternate Currents, (4) Pro- 

 tection of High-pressure Overhead Electric Lines against Atmo- 

 spheric Discharges, (5) Various Disturbances caused by Electric 

 Traction. Further information c.in be obtained from the Bureau 

 du Congres International des Electriciens, Universite, Geneve. 



It has been proposed that some token of esteem be presented 

 to Prof N. Story-Maskelyne in recognition of his distinguished 

 services to mineralogical science, and to commemorate his long 

 connection with the University of Oxford. The presentation is 

 intended to take the form, if possible, of a portrait, and it is- 

 believed that contributions not exceeding £,2. in amount will be 

 sufficient for the purpose. A number of men of science, both at 

 home and on the continent, have already promised their support. 

 Contributions will be received by Prof. A. H. Green, F.R.S. ,. 

 or Prof. H. A. Miers, F.R.S. , University Museum, O.xford. 



The Board of Managers of the New York Botanical Garden, 

 have issued the first number of a Bulletin, containing the Act 

 of Incorporation, and a map of the site for the Garden granted 

 by the Commissioners of Public Parks. By agreement with the 

 Trustees of Columbia College, the botanical library and herb- 

 arium belonging to that institution will be deposited in the 

 Botanical Garden. The endowment fund of 250,000 dols. 

 required by the Act of Incorporation has now been fully sub- 

 scribed. The President of the Board of Managers is Mr. 

 Cornelius Vanderbilt ; the Secretary, Prof N. L. Britton. 



Mr. Austin Corbin, who was killed a few days ago in New 

 Hampshire, had acquired a herd of fifty buffalo, which he kept 

 in his preserves in that State. It was his intention to lend the 

 animals for an indefinite period to the city of New York, and a 

 plot of eighty acres in Van Cortlandt Park, in the northern 

 (annexed) portion of the city, had been prepared for them,, 

 having been surrounded by a fence seven feet high. The plan 

 will be carried out by his representatives, and the herd will be 

 moved in the autumn ; the delay being caused by apprehension, 

 that change of climate during hot weather might prove per- 

 nicious. This measure may avert the threatened extinction of 

 the buffalo, which has now been almost extirpated on the 

 western plains. 



Mr. J. H. T. TuDSBERV has been appointed Secretary of the 

 Institution of Civil Engineers, in succession to Mr. James- 

 Forrest, who has retired. 



