430 Obituary—James William Davis. 
a great mass of material that had too long been neglected, and it is 
a distinct loss to Paleontology that the author’s untimely end should 
have abruptly terminated the publication. We understand that 
the second part of this memoir, on the Acanthodians, is so near 
completion that it may be published posthumously. 
A notice of the life and scientific work of Mr. Davis would, 
however, be very incomplete if we merely referred to his official 
responsibilities and his original researches. No one could come in 
contact with him for long without absorbing some slight proportion 
of his enthusiasm, his indomitable energy, and determination; and for 
at least 20 years he has probably had more influence than anyone 
else on the advance of scientific research in his native county. 
Many naturalists now occupying a conspicuous position in their 
respective lines of study owe their first kindly encouragement to 
him ; many others have been incited to redoubled energy by personal 
intercourse with him. As the highly esteemed friend of most of the 
leading geologists both in Britain and on the adjoining Continent, 
and numbering in his large circle of acquaintances men distinguished 
in every sphere, Mr. Davis was a trusted adviser in many matters 
where only one with his great experience of the world could be of 
service. None, indeed, but those who have thus known him, can 
appreciate the loss which the scientific community has sustained by 
his decease. 
Finally, we must add a word concerning Mr. Davis’ liveliness of 
disposition, which kept him in the best of humour even in the midst 
of troubles and difficulties. Whether the worry were great or small, 
he could invariably lose all remembrance of it at will and apparently 
enjoy life as if nothing unfortunate had happened. The writer has 
a vivid recollection of being roused up in the middle of the night 
on one occasion at a remote railway station in Finland, when Mr. 
Davis was trying to explain to a clamorous crowd of officials that 
he had no ticket, but plenty of British paper money, which he 
would change at the end of the journey. After long discussion in 
a medley of languages, he induced the conductor to feel the weight 
of his “effects,” which he suggested would be equal in value to 
the ticket, and the train was then allowed to proceed. Immediately 
afterwards, in the best of good humour, he pulled out from his 
portmanteau a small Swedish toy bought for one of his children, 
and playing with it, he remarked that it was well the inquisitive 
officer had not estimated the value by inspection. He resumed his 
slumbers, and as soon as an appropriate place was reached, borrowed 
from the same conductor enough Russian money to pay for break- 
fast. He never despaired, never regarded trouble too seriously—he 
was a friend whose companionship was truly cheering. A.S.W. 
List or Memoirs AND Papers By JAMES WitLIam Davis, F.G.S. 
1. Monthly analytical examination of the Harrogate Spas, 1872 [1873]. 
Pharmaceut. Journ. vol. iv. (1874), pp. 481, 482. 
2. On a bone-bed in the Lower Coal-measures, with an enumeration of the Fish- 
remains of which it is principally composed. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xxxil. 
(1876), pp. 382-340. 
