OUtuanj—Prof. W. C. WilUamson, F.R.S. 383 



of Bengal," 1879, p. 16, PI. I; 1888, p. 404; and 1893, p. 289, 

 PI. XIII ; and " On the Mode of Occurrence of Precious Stones in 

 India," 1884, p. 516; "On Eroded Agate Pebbles," 1888, p. 231; 

 " On the Transport of Granite found in the Carboniferous Limestone, 

 Dublin," 1888, p. 232. He filled the office of President at the late 

 meeting of tlie Museums Association in Dublin in 1894. With most 

 of the scientific societies of Dublin Dr. V. Ball was in intimate 

 association, especially with the Koyal Geological Society, of which, 

 he was the arduous Secretary for so many years. 



In 1869 Dr. Ball married the eldest daughter of the late John 

 Stewart Moore, of Moyarget, county Antrim. He leaves a family 

 of four children. For some years Dr. Ball's health had been 

 failing. About ten days previous to his death serious symptoms 

 wei'e manifested, and he passed away on the afternoon of Saturday, 

 June 15th, at his residence, 28, Waterloo Road, Dublin. 



PROFESSOR WILLIAM 0. WILLIAMSON, LL.D., F.R.S. 



Born November 24th, 1816. Died June 23rd, 1895. 



By the death of Professor W. C Williamson, Palajobotany has 

 lost one of its most earnest and energetic investigators and ex- 

 ponents, whose memoirs will long remain a record of persevering 

 labour combined with remarkable genius and originality of thought. 



William Crawford Williamson was born at Scarborough on 

 November 24th, 1816. His father was for some time head gardener 

 to the then Earl of Mnlgrave, at Lyth Castle, near Whitby, where, 

 having laboured indefatigably in exploring the geology and zoology 

 of the coast of Yorkshire, and made a rich collection of its fossils and 

 recent shells, he was, in 1828, appointed Curator of the well-known 

 Museum of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Scarborough, 

 amongst the collections of which much of his son's early youth was 

 beneficially spent. Young Williamson was destined for the medical 

 profession, but, in 1835, accepted the curatorship of the Museum of 

 the Manchester Natural History Society. Whilst at Scarborough he 

 contributed to the Geological Society of London the first of three 

 memoirs on the "Vertical Distribution of the Organic Eemains in 

 the Strata of the Yorkshire Coast," and one to the Zoological 

 Society of London on the " Birds of the Yorkshire Coast," as 

 well as published a description of the well-known tumulus and 

 its contents then recently opened on Gristhorpe Cliff. On reaching 

 Manchester his attention was at once directed to the local geology, 

 and soon resulted in the publication, in the Philosophical Magazine, 

 of a memoir on the " Remarkable Limestones of Ardwick," which 

 form the uppermost part of the Carboniferous strata in that 

 neighbourhood. 



In 1838 he resumed his medical studies, first in the Manchester 

 Medical School, Pine Street, and afterwards in University College, 

 London ; and in January, 1841, he commenced as a medical prac- 

 titioner in Manchester. Soon after that he began a series of 

 investigations amongst the recent Foraminifera, the results of 

 which were a succession of memoirs on their minute organization. 



