Obituary—James Reeve. 143 
method which he adopted for the analysis of meteoric stones, and 
which he described in detail for the benefit of others engaged in 
similar work, was one which it is to be feared could appeal to few 
who were not possessed of his own skill and infinite patience. For 
many years previous to his retirement from the Museum he had 
devoted much thought to the problem of the classification of minerals, 
and with his usua! thoroughness had critically examined every 
system which had been entertained during the last 200 years. During 
the last year of his life he had made some effort towards the com- 
pletion of his task, and it is to be hoped that it may be possible to 
prepare for publication something of interest, at any rate from a 
historical point of view, from the manuscript which he has left 
behind. 
The Mineralogical Society owes Fletcher a special debt of gratitude 
for the work which he did on its behalf. As one of its earliest 
members, its President from 1885 to 1888, and its Secretary for more 
than twenty years afterwards, he worked indefatigably first to 
establish the Society on a firm basis, and then to promote its 
interests. 
Loyalty to friends and to any institutions with which he was or 
had been connected was one of the guiding principles of Fletcher’s 
life. After he had attained to an assured position he was ever ready 
to help those from whom he may have received benefit in his youth, 
and the school and college in which he was educated. No one in 
trouble ever appears to have appealed to him in vain. Partly as 
a consequence of this open-handed generosity and partly, no doubt, 
from choice, his home life was always a very quiet and simple one. 
He was twice married, first to Miss Agnes Ward Holme, who died in 
1915, leaving one daughter, and afterwards to her sister Kdith. 
His wife and daughter survive him. 
G. T. Prior. 
James Reeve, F.G.S. 
Born May 12, 1833. DIED DECEMBER 19, 1920. 
Mr. JAMes Reeve, F.G.S., Consulting Curator of the Norwich 
Castle Museum, died at Norwich on December 19, 1920, in which 
city he was born on May 12, 1833. 
The 27th Annual Report of the Committee of the Norfolk and 
Norwich Museum for 1851 records that James Reeve, Assistant, had 
been appointed Curator in succession to Mr. H. J. Bellars, who had 
resigned. This appointment he held with conspicuous success until 
1894, when the collections were transferred to the Town Council of 
Norwich and housed in the splendid buildings known as the Norwich 
Castle Museum, which was opened to the public on October 23, 
1894, by the Duke and Duchess of York (the present King and 
Queen). Mr. James Reeve received the appointment as Curator 
under the Town Council, and by his energy and unrivalled knowledge 
