Obituary— Mr. W. S. Dallas. 333 



Trimmer. 1 The distinction between the Post-Glacial Mundesley 

 Kiver-bed and the older Forest Bed Series was first perceived by 

 Mr. Gunn. 2 His collection of fossil mammalia, and especially the 

 specimens of Elephant, proved of much service to Falconer and 

 Leith Adams ; the former remarks that " The interest and value of 

 his collection are only equalled by the liberality with which he 

 makes it available for the ends of science. I need only say in 

 illustration that he has placed all the specimens in his possession 

 at my disposal for this essay, even to be sawn up for sections, if 

 necessary, or for any other use to which they could be turned." 3 



Mi\ Gunn's enthusiasm may be well realized when it is remembered 

 that (in 1888) when 87 years of age, he attended the London 

 meeting of the International Geological Congress, and subsequently 

 paid a visit to St. Erth, in Cornwall, to examine the Pliocene Beds 

 that have been discovered in that neighbourhood. 



Notwithstanding his devotion to geology, Mr. Gunn, while rector 

 of Irstead, was very energetic in the pursuit of his clerical duties, 

 and filled the position of Rural Dean. 



In 1869, after forty years' service in the Church, he resigned 

 his preferment, and ultimately quitted the ministry. This he did 

 because he became convinced that he could no longer conscientiously 

 preach some of the doctrines of the Church of England. In his 

 published letter to his parishioners, he remarks : " It was a hard 

 wrench for me to part from the place of my birth, the scenes of 

 childhood, and of a mature and happy life ; from a charming spot 

 where almost every tree and shrub had been planted b}' myself; 

 and, above all, from parishioners between whom and myself there 

 ever had subsisted a most cordial feeling of good will." 



Mr. Gunn died May 28th, 1890, and was buried at the Eosary, 

 Norwich. 



WILLIAM SWEETLAND DALLAS, F.L.S. 

 Born 31st January, 1824 ; Died 29th May, 1890. 



It is with deep regret we have to record the death of Mr. W. S. 

 Dallas, the able and accomplished Assistant - Secretary of the 

 Geological Society of London ; a man universally esteemed and 

 beloved by all, and one whose loss to science it will be difficult to 

 supply._ 



William Sweetland Dallas was the youngest son of Mr. William 

 Dallas, belonging to an ancient Scottish family, an East India 

 Merchant and a Member of Lloyds', who died in 1842. 



Born in Islington, January 31st, 1824, he early evinced a love 

 of Natural History, and when only a boy made collections of Insects 

 with his elder brother in the fields of Hampstead, Highgate, and 

 Hornsey. 



1 See J. H. Blake, Geol. Yarmouth and Lowestoft (Geol. Surv.), p. 28. 



2 Lyell, Antiq. Man, Fourth Edition, p. 267. 



3 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xxi. p. 299. See also E. T. Newton, Vertebrata 

 of the Forest Bed Series, 1882. 



