Obituary— W. H. Penning, F.G.8. 335 



way connecter] with, the former position of the main, north-east to 

 south-west escarpment of the Chalk. 



It must be admitted that in dealing with the origin of the Southern 

 English rivers Mr. Strahan shows generally a fine disregard for the 

 princi^Dles of drainage development. H. C. Osborne White. 



Wargraye, Berks. 



Mai/ 21, 1902. 



WILLIAM HENRY PENNING, F.G.S. 

 Born March 9, 1838. Died April 20, 1902. 



Mr. Penning, who joined the Geological Survey in 1867, had in 

 previous years qualified as an engineer under the late C. H. G-regory. 

 During his official service he was engaged in the survey of portions 

 of Essex, Hertfordshire, SuJBfolk, Cambridgeshire, and Lincolnshire, 

 and he was joint author with Mr. Whitaker and others of " The 

 Geology of the North- Western Part of Essex, etc," (1878), and with 

 Mr. Jukes- Browne of "The Geology of the Neighbourhood of 

 Cambridge" (1881). He also contributed to "The Geology of the 

 Country around Lincoln" (1888), by Mr. Ussher and others, the 

 memoir being published after he had retired from the Geological 

 Survey in 1882 through ill-health. On this account he spent some 

 time in South Afi'ica, and, regaining health, he was enabled to com- 

 municate to the Geological Society of London papers on the high- 

 level coalfields of South Africa, on the goldfields of Lydenburg and 

 De Kaap, and on the geology of the Southern Transvaal. A previous 

 communication by him dealt with the physical geology of East 

 Anglia during the Glacial Period. Mr. Penning was author of 

 a " Text-Book of Field Geology " (1876, second edition 1879) and 

 of " Engineering Geology " (1880). 



JOHN CLAVELL MANSEL-PLEYDELL, F.L.S., F.G.S. 



Born 1817. Died May 3, 1902. 



In the death of Mr. Mansel-PIeydell, of Whatcombe, Dorset, 

 geological science has lost an energetic and enthusiastic worker, 

 one who in the widest sense was a naturalist, for he was intimately 

 acquainted with the plants, the mollusca, and the birds of his native 

 county, and had published separate volumes on these subjects. The 

 antiquities of Dorset had likewise engaged his attention, while as 

 a Magistrate, as a member of the County Council, and as High 

 Sheriff (in 1875) he had rendered distinguished local services. He 

 was educated at St. John's College, Cambridge, and on the death of 

 his father in 1863 he succeeded to the family estates, which included 

 land in the Isle of Purbeck. Here he had fine opportunities for 

 geological research, and the Kimeridge Clay in particular yielded 

 to him many saurian remains, some of which were described by 

 Owen and J. W. Hulke. In 1873 he contributed to the Geological 



