Obituary— Robert Fitch, F.8.A., F.G.8. 527 



has been founding his remark on the old map, in the first or second edition of that 

 work, showing only the earlier glaciatiou on laud, and not at all the subsequent 

 ice-movement along the coast ? In any case, as Prof. Hull seems to throw doubt 

 on one's accuracy in the matter, it becomes necessary to point out that the mistake 

 is entirely his own, as doubtless he will readily acknowledge. 



THE AGE OF THE EHYOLITES OF COUNTY ANTRIM. 



Sir, — The " Proceedings of the Geologists' Association " for 

 August, 1895 (vol. xiv, p. 152), contain a communication made by 

 myself to Mr. R. Lloyd Praeger respecting the probable contem- 

 poraneity of the rhyolites of county Antrim and the granite of the 

 Mourne Mountains. This statement was based on notes made by 

 nie early in the year, and I had learned, from conversation with Mr. 

 \V. W. Watts, that similar views were current among the members 

 of the staff of the Geological Survey of Ireland. Hence the form 

 in which Mr. Praeger utilized the information sent to him. 



I wrote, however, in June, before I had received my copy of the 

 Geological Magazine for that month, and hence Mr. McHenry's 

 clear statement of his belief,' though by that time published, was 

 not directly referred to. As soon as I read his paper, I forwarded 

 an account of it, and a withdrawal of any reference to myself, to 

 Mr. Praeger, who revised the amended sentences on his proofs ; but 

 the correction appears to have been overlooked in the press of 

 business connected with a summer excursion of the Association. 

 I make this explanation, since the passage, as published in August, 

 is distinctly unfair to Mr. McHenry's paper, which has thrown such 

 light upon the question. Grenville A. J. Cole. 



Royal College of Science for Ireland, 

 Dublin ; October I'Sth, 1895. 



ROBERT FITCH, F.S.A., F.G.S. 



Born October 21st, 1802. Died April 4th, 1895. 



Geology, like other branches of Natural History, has owed much 

 of its progress to the zeal of collectors. Of these, one of the most 

 painstaking and successful was the late Robert Fitch, who, in addition 

 to a most valuable collection of antiquities, had gathered together 

 a very fine series of fossils from the Crag and Chalk of Norfolk. 

 He was born at Ipswich, on October 21st, 1802, educated at the 

 Grammar School, and apprenticed to a chemist and druggist in the 

 town. Pursuing this occupation he settled in Norwich, in 1827, in 

 partnership with Mr. Sheriff Chambers, and continued until he was 

 over 9U years of age to take an active interest in business. From an 

 early date he took great interest in fossils, and his specimens were 

 always at the service of those engaged in palaeontological studies. 



He seldom wrote on geological subjects, his chief literary con- 

 tributions being to the " Transactions of the Norfolk Archteological 

 Society." In 1836, however, he communicated to the Geological 

 Society an account of the discovery of the tooth of a Mastodon in 



1 " On the Age of the Trachytic Rocks of Antrim," Geol. Mag. 1895, p. 264. 



