432 Obituary —Philip James Rufford, F.G.S. 



Warwickshire, January 26th, 1852. He was brought up as a Civil 

 Engineer, but early in his career his health broke down and he was 

 compelled to abandon his profession, and about the year 1888 he 

 settled with his mother in The Croft at Hastings. Having by careful 

 study and observation previously acquired a very considerable 

 knowledge of geology, on coming to reside in Hastings he devoted 

 all his time and attention to collecting fossils from the Wealden strata 

 of the neighbourhood, especially at Ecclesbourne and Fairlight. 

 Mr. Rufford's favourite collecting-ground was along the sea-shore 

 from Eock-a-Nore to Cliffs End. He was fortunate in obtaining 

 a very fine collection of Wealden plants, which he disposed of at 

 a nominal valuation to the British Museum (Natural History), Crom- 

 well Road, only stipulating that they should, as soon as possible, be 

 figured and described by the Museum. This task was ably under- 

 taken by Mr. A. C. Seward, M.A., F.R.S., in 1893-4 and 5. In the 

 preface to vol. i the Keeper of Geology writes: "We are fortunate in 

 possessing many of Mantell's original specimens of Wealden plants, 

 but, although historically of great interest, they are largely superseded 

 by those recently obtained by Mr. P. Rufford, whose fine collection 

 has lately been acquired for the National Museum" (p. vi op. cit.). 

 In the same volume Mr. Seward describes 147 specimens, mostly 

 Pteridophyta, from Mr. Rufi'ord's collection. Amongst these is 

 a new genus of ferns dedicated to the discoverer, by Mr. A. C. 

 Seward, as Rnffordia, gen. nov. (p. 75, pi. iv), having a finely 

 divided form of frond, not unlike Asplenium fragrans, Sby., in habit. 

 In vol. ii Mr. Seward illustrates the Cycadites and Zamites (with 

 their fruits and stems), and the Coniferee, and refers to no fewer 

 than 196 specimens from Mr. Rufford's collection, many of which he 

 describes and figures. This interesting series of Wealden plants is 

 now all well arranged and exhibited in Gallery No. X, Department 

 of Geology, British Museum (Natural History). The ferns and 

 zamia-leaves from Ecclesbourne are very beautiful, and form a most 

 attractive part of the collection. 



The Museum of the Brassey Institute commenced to assume an 

 organized and definite shape in 1891, when the Committee purchased 

 a part of the Beckles Collection of Wealden and other fossils. 

 Mr. Rufi'ord, who was then a member of its Committee, took upon 

 liimself the arduous task of selecting, naming, and arranging these 

 objects with his own hands, adding largely to the geological section 

 of the Museum from his own private cabinet. He also contributed 

 a series of Recent marine, land, and fresh-water MoUusca, Recent 

 vSponges, Hydroids, Echinoderms, Polyzoa, etc. Owing to ill-health 

 he last year visited Italy and stayed the winter in Rome. Early 

 in the spring he spent some weeks in Naples, where he was much 

 gratified by the kindness he received from Dr. Anton Dohrn, Director 

 of the Marine Zoological Station, and from his assistants, in his 

 efforts to gain some knowledge of the living sea fauna for furthering 

 his studies at Hastings. His loss to the Museum will long be felt 

 by all his colleagues who served with him on the Committee. 



