142 Obituanj — B. Lmc. 



the Chemical Section of the British Association at the meeting held 

 in Toronto. ^ 



Dr. Harrington was perhaps most widely known in this country as 

 author of the interesting " Life of Sir William E. Logan," which was 

 published in 1883. 



ROBERT LAW, F.G.S. 



BoRX June 21, 1810. Died December 29, 1907. 



The late Mr. Robert Law, whose death took place at the close of 

 last year, was in many respects a remarkable man. Born at Walsden 

 in Lancashire, on the borders of Yorkshire, he commenced the business 

 of life as a weaver, but was attracted in his leisure hours to the local 

 "Working Men's Club and Institute, where his interest was aroused 

 in the Natural History and Archoeology of his neighbourhood. 

 Although at the time he was regarded as " a very rough unpolished 

 diamond," yet, after passing through a course of instruction in what 

 may be called elementary subjects, he became passionately devoted 

 to the study of geology, spending what little spare money he had on 

 books and fossils, and his spare time in reading or in tramping the 

 district for miles around. In this way he became so proficient 

 in geological science that he was recognised as its leading exponent 

 in the country round "VYalsden. He soon widened his sphere of 

 operations, his wanderings taking him to the Mountain Limestone 

 districts of Castleton, Derbyshire, to Clitheroe in Lancashire, and to 

 the Lias of the Yorkshire coast. 



About 30 years ago he commenced his first class in geology at 

 Todmorden, under the auspices of the local Science and Art Committee, 

 and in the same year he had a similar class at the Institute at 

 Walsden, By virtue of his position as a teacher, Mr. Law had the 

 privilege of attending several of the Summer training courses in 

 geology and kindred subjects at the Normal College of Science, South 

 Kensington. He had a plain but effective method of teaching, and 

 possessed to a remarkable degree the power of winning the interest 

 and devotion of his students. In a few years he was in very great 

 demand as a teacher, and had classes every evening in the week, as 

 well as on Saturdaj^ afternoons. Among the places at which he 

 taught were Bacup, Rochdale, Shaw, Oldham, Hebden Bridge, Halifax, 

 and Lightcliffe. 



His friend Mr. Walter Baldwin, of Rochdale, remarks in a letter 

 that " as a lecturer he had a style peculiar to himself and one which 

 took with the working men, as he never lost his Yorkshire accent, 

 which certainly was a strong one. He and the late Mr. James 

 Horsfall, of Rochdale, were the first to draw attention to the minute 

 flint implements from the Lancashire and Yorkshire Moors." They 

 brought a paper on the subject before the British Association at 

 Montreal. The same authors read before the Manchester meeting of 

 the Association in 1887, a paper " On the discovery of Carboniferous 

 Fossils in a Conglomerate at Moughton Fell, near Settle, Yorkshire " 

 (see Geol. Mag., 1888, p. 30). 



