Obituary—John Roche Dakyns, M.A. 579 
seen something in Notts., gave rise in early Survey days to the 
interpretation of certain sections of strata so juxtaposed as faulted 
beds. Viewed as delta-bediled deposits the faults disappear, and such 
instances can perfectly well be illustrated on a map just as the 
discontinuous bedding. 
(16) Rocks polished by wind-action occur at various points at 
Mount Sorrel, Croft, and elsewhere. These older pre-Triassic rocks are 
at practically the same level as O.D., and the Trias was laid down just 
as we now find it, with a slight dip, allowing for subsidence. It is 
merely a petitioprincipr to say casesfor observing wind-polishing are very 
exceptional. But it is very damaging evidence for the desert theory 
to show that this action occurs only where red marl abuts against 
older rocks and along a single horizontal line. This illustrates the 
local (littoral or marginal) character of desert action in Triassic times. 
(20) A reference to Professor Hull’s Survey memoirs and Professor 
Bonney’s papers will give Mr. Wright the information he desires. 
(21) The nature of the heavy minerals of the Bunter, Keuper, and 
the Nile indicates that they have a common character and in their 
several areas a common origin to a great extent. It is known that 
the Nile delta deposits are mechanically altered, owing to their having 
been, in part, derived from a contiguous desert. In the Nile the 
water is free from those chemical agents which ordinary river- or rain- 
water contain, so that chemical action is absent. In the Trias river 
and rain have acted in such a way during the past that the marls 
of the Upper Keuper exhibit their effect. This point is another 
corroborative of the aqueous origin and, together with other indications, 
of the delta origin of the Trias. A. R. Horwoop. 
Leicester Museum. 
November 14, 1910. 
(QSL OIA Se Soe 
JOHN ROCHE DAKYNS, M.A. 
Born January 31, 1836. Diep SEPTEMBER 27, 1910. 
J. R. Daxyns, the eldest son of Dr. Thomas Henry Dakyns, was 
born in the island of St. Vincent, West Indies. In 1845 the family 
removed to England, and settled at Rugby, where J. R. Dakyns 
received his early education. In 1855 he proceeded to Trinity 
College, Cambridge; four years later he gained the position of 
twenty-seventh Wrangler in the Mathematical Tripos; and during the 
next two years he was engaged in teaching. Mathematics was 
a subject at all times of great interest to him, but Physical Geography 
likewise had its attractions. Hills and mountains exerted a magnetic 
influence on him, and the contemplation of these great features 
probably led him to the study of Geology. Eventually he found 
a congenial outdoor profession on the staff of the Geological Survey. 
He joined as an Assistant Geologist on January 16, 1862, and was 
promoted to the rank of Geologist on January 1, 1868. 
In the course of his field-work he was principally occupied in the 
West Riding of Yorkshire and bordering tracts of Derbyshire, 
Lancashire, and Westmorland, and for a few years in the East 
