Professor J. Prestwich, D.C.L., FBS. 245 
accepted theory of volcanic action, that it is due to the agency of 
high-pressure steam in the Volcanic foci, and contended on the 
contrary that water was a secondary and not a primary cause in 
this action, and its action he showed to be the necessary consequence 
of the hydro-geological structure of volcanic mountains. 
Mr. Prestwich was appointed by the Vice-Chancellor of the 
University, Dean Liddell, to succeed Professor Phillips in the chair 
of geology at Oxford in 1874. 
On theoretical points Prof. Prestwich holds anti-uniformitarian 
views, some of his reasons against uniform action in all time being 
given by him in his Inaugural Address at Oxford in 1874, and in 
his “Geology.” He also opposes Croll’s time theory. 
Professor Prestwich has published three lectures on the Geology 
of the neighbourhvod of London, entitled “The ground beneath us,” 
and a work on the “ Water-bearing Strata around London,” with a 
view to fresh sources of supply for the Metropolis; also a pamphlet 
on the Water supply of towns, more especially of Oxford. 
In 1876, in investigating the conditions for a better water supply, 
he pointed out that there was under Oxford an abundant source of 
mineral water, allied to but stronger than those of Cheltenham and 
Leamington. The vexata questio of the “ Parallel Roads of Glen 
Roy” next engaged his attention, and this was followed by several 
other papers, amongst which may be mentioned those on ‘ Under- 
ground Temperatures ” and on “ Volcanic Action.” 
As far back as 1849 the Geological Society awarded Mr. Prestwich 
the Wollaston Medal for his researches on the Coalfield of Coalbrook 
dale, and those on the Tertiary districts of London and Hampshire. 
In 1865 the Royal Society awarded him a Royal Medal for his con- 
tributions to Geological Science, and more especially for his paper 
in the Philosophical Transactions, “‘On the Occurrence of Flint 
Implements associated with the Remains of Extinct Species of Mam- 
malia in beds of a late Geological Period in France and England ; ” 
and that “On the Theoretical Considerations on the Conditions 
under which the Drift Deposits containing the remains of Extinct 
Mammalia and Flint Implements were accumulated, and on their 
Geological Age.” 
Professor Prestwich served the office of President of the Geo- 
logical Society of London from 1870-72. He was made a Vice- 
President of the Royal Society, 1870-71. In 1874 the Institute of 
Civil Engineers awarded him a Telford Medal and premium for his 
paper on the “Geological conditions affecting the construction of 
a Tunnel between France and England.” 
At the annual Réunion of the Geological Society of France, at 
Boulogne, in 1880, Professor Prestwich was elected President of 
the meeting; and in 1885 the Institute of France elected him a 
Corresponding Member of the Academy of Sciences. In 1886 the 
first vol. (Chemical and Physical) of his work on “ Geology” was 
published by the Clarendon Press. The second vol. (Stratigraphical 
and Paleontological) with a Geological Map of Europe appeared in 
1888. In the same year the University of Oxford conferred upon 
