♦ THE 



GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE. 



NEW SERIES. DECADE IV. VOL. Vil. 



No. II.— FEBRUAEY, 1900. 



OI^XG-I:LT.A-L ^A^i^TIGLES- 



I. — Eminent Living Geologists : Eev. Osmond Fisher, 

 MA., F.G.S. 



(WITH A PORTRAIT, PLATE III.) 



THE subject of this notice belongs to a family of which several 

 members have occupied high positions as clergymen and 

 scholars. His father, the Yen. John Fisher, the early friend 

 and patron of Constable, was Archdeacon of Berks, Canon of 

 Salisbury, and Vicar of Osraington and Gillingham in Dorset ; 

 his grandfather, the Eev. Philip Fisher, D.D., was Master of 

 the Charterhouse ; and his great-uncle, the Rev. John Fisher, was 

 preceptor to the Princess Charlotte, and subsequently Bishop, first 

 of Exeter and afterwards of Salisbury. 



Osmond Fisher was born at Osmington on November 17, 1817, 

 and was named after the patron saint of his father's church. The 

 district is an interesting one for geologists, and, while a mere child, 

 Osmond used to accompany his uncle, the Rev. George Cookson, 

 when collecting fossils in the neighbouring cliffs. At the age of 11 

 he was sent to Eton, where two years were spent under the 

 fiery Dr. Keate without his receiving a single lesson in arithmetic. 

 A year at home, spent in pursuing his natural bent for science, was 

 followed by his removal to the house of his uncle, the Rev. W. 

 Fisher, at Poulshot, in Wiltshire. Here he took up geology again, 

 made out the structure of the neighbourhood (on the same horizon 

 as Osmington), and collected fossils from the Coral Rag and other 

 strata, some of which are now in the Woodwardian Museum. During 

 the next two years he lived with his grandfather, the Master of the 

 Charterhouse, and studied at King's College, London, where he 

 began to read mathematics. He also heard one or two lectures 

 from Lyell and Daniell, who were then Professors at the College, 

 and roamed about the geological galleries of the British Museum. 



In 1836 Fisher proceeded to Jesus College, Cambridge ; and, 

 though equally capable of taking a classical degree, fortunately 

 decided on a mathematical career. After degrading a year on 

 account of ill-health, he graduated as 18th wrangler in 1841. He 

 was ordained deacon in 1844, and at once took the sole charge of 

 his uncle Mr. Cookson's living at Writhlington, near Radstock, in 

 the Somerset Coalfield, and was also elected a Fellow of his College. 



DECADE IV.— .VOL, Til. — NO. II. 4 



