Obituary— William Topleij, F.R.8., F.G.8. 571 



In conjunction with his colleague Dr. Foster he made a study 

 of the superficial deposits over a large part of the Wealden area, 

 and more especially of the gravels of the Medway valley ; and 

 together they elaborated in I860 the well-known paper in which 

 they brought their knowledge to bear on the vexed subject of the 

 Denudation of the Weald. In this essay they gave numerous 

 facts and new arguments to prove, what had in general terms been 

 taught by Ramsay, that the main features of the ground were 

 sculptured by the agency of rain and rivers. 



On the completion of the Geological Survey of the Wealden 

 area, the preparation of the descriptive Memoir devolved upon 

 Mr. Topley. Other colleagues, Mr. F. Drew, Mr. C. Gould, and 

 Dr. Foster, who had mapped large portions of the region, had 

 resigned their official positions ; but Mr. Topley had had numerous 

 opportunities of becoming generally acquainted with the entire 

 district. How carefully his Memoir was written, and how ex- 

 haustively (so far as our knowledge then existed), is known to 

 every geologist. The book, which was published in 1875, a't once 

 became the standard work of reference ; for, apart from its original 

 information, it gave evidence, as did all his writings, of a thorough 

 study of the publications of other observers, ajid a full acknow- 

 ledgment of all they had done. 



Meanwhile Mr. Topley had been instructed to proceed to the 

 Coal-field of Northumberland and Durham, and much of his literary 

 labour connected with the Memoir had to be performed in that; 

 northern region in the winter time, or at other seasons when field- 

 work was impracticable. In 1868, after six years' service, he had 

 been advanced to the rank of Geologist on the Geological Survey 

 — promotion in those earlier days being far more rapid than at the 

 present time. 



When, in 1872, the Committee of the Sub- Wealden Exploration 

 commenced their active operations near Battle, Mr. Topley was, 

 of course, specially interested. He was one of the first to be 

 consulted, and, later on, he was expressly sent by the Geological 

 Survey to the locality, to examine and report upon the cores brought 

 up by the boring-apparatus. He was thereby enabled to record, 

 in his Memoir on the Geology of the Weald, particulars of the strata 

 and their fossils to a depth of over 1000 feet. The classification 

 of the strata given in that work was subsequently modified, and 

 Mr. Topley from time to time contributed many reports and other 

 articles on the subject (see Appendix). 



A considerable portion of Mr. Topley's sojourn in the north 

 was spent at Rothbury, near Morpeth, and at Alnwick, where 

 his studies were directed mainly to the Carboniferous rocks and to 

 the Glacial Drifts. The nature of that great sheet of basalt known 

 as the Whin Sill, also engaged his attention and that of his friend 

 and former colleague, Prof. Lebour, and the result of their obser- 

 vations was to prove its intrusive character. 



The subject of Denudation never ceased to interest Mr. Topley, 

 and when, during the early years of the Geological Magazine, 



