480 Obituary — Williavi Henry Sutcliffe. 



to the antiquity of man, and was a careful weighing and sifting of the 

 evidence in connexion with some of the discoveries of recent years. 

 He strongly attacked the theory that the so-called ' Eoliths ' Avere 

 the work of man, and also the idea that the Galley Hill skeleton 

 found some years ago in Kent and the one found near Ipswich were 

 of very early type, and for this object he visited Ightham, Kent, and 

 the locality where the Ipswich skeleton was found. 



As a geologist he has been the means of considerably extending 

 our knowledge of the palseobotany of the Lower Coal-measures ; and 

 the ' Bullion Mine ', Shore, near his residence, has become widely 

 known on account of the rich harvest it has yielded of specimens 

 new to science, and his name has been commemorated in Tubicaulis 

 Sutdiffei and in Siitcliffia insig^iis. 



He has also been associated with other well-known local geologists 

 in the discovery of the very rich fauna in the Middle Coal-measures 

 at Sparth, Kochdale, about which Dr. H. Woodward gave a paper 

 at the British Association Meeting at York in 1906, when he named 

 a new species of fossil arachnid, Geralinura Stitcliffei, and this specimen 

 with many others have been presented by Mr. Sutcliffe to the Geological 

 Department of tlie British Museum (Natural History). 



Most of his holidays in recent years have been devoted to geological 

 investigation, and he invariably returned with many valuable 

 specimens, some of which have enriched the Rochdale and Manchester 

 Museums. One of his recent finds was a fine specimen, 20 feet long, 

 named Plesiosaiirus Jiomospondyhis, from the Lias of Saltwick Bay, 

 near Whitby, which is preserved in the Manchester Museum. 



In one of liis archaeological investigations he endeavoured to trace 

 the Ptoman Road over Blackstone Edge (Pennine Range) north-east of 

 Rochdale, and had a large portion of ground uncovered beneath the 

 turf and heather so as to trace its course for a considerable distance. 



Mr. Sutcliffe was elected a Fellow of the Geological Society in 1903, 

 and contributed a joint paper to that Society in 1904 on Eoscorpius 

 sparthensis, sp. nov. (Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. Ix, p. 394). 



He was a member of the Manchester Geological Society and 

 University Geologists' Association, the Manchester Literary and 

 Philosophical Society, and many other bodies. He was also a member 

 of Council of the Manchester Museum. 



He joined the Rochdale Literary and Scientific Society in 1886, 

 became a member of Council in 1898, and was last year elected 

 President, when he gave a very interesting address on "The 

 Evolution of Tools ", to illustrate which he had on exhibition about 

 500 specimens, showing the development of the principal form of 

 tools demonstrating the evolution of the textile industry. 



He had a large circle of English and foreign friends amongst men 

 of science, including the Editor of this Magazine. Mr. Sutcliffe was 

 in private life and in his scientific pursuits one of the kindliest and 

 most genial of men. 



For some months he had been in failing health, and died at 

 Weymouth on August 18 last, to the deep regret of his many friends. 

 He leaves a wife, one son, and two daughters to mourn his loss. 



S.S.P., W.A. P. 



