﻿Obituary — Sartorius von Waltershausen. 141 



size. One stream, after leaping in a cascade from a hollow in a hill- 

 side, has cleared out a channel of from eight to ten feet deep, and in 

 some parts fifteen to eighteen broad. The loose gravelly sides of 

 such channels soon fall in, and beyond a modification of the contour 

 of the slope, all trace of the denuding agent is lost. 



James Durham. 

 P.S. — I heartily concur in Mr. Mackintosh's estimate of Mr, H. 

 B. Woodward's admirable Geology of England and Wales, but Mr. 

 Woodward says little about ' Karnes ' which would not be explained 

 as readily by the Denudation theory as by any other, — J.D. 



THE TROPICAL FORESTS OF HAMPSHIRE. 



Sir, — Please correct the following erratum in the last Number of 

 the Geol, Mag, in my letter, line 3, from top of page 96 ; for " 200 

 feet " read " 2000 feet." That is the thickness of the Eocene beds 

 in section in Hampshire, according to the Geological Survey 

 Memoir by Messrs. Forbes and Bristow. It was written very 

 plainly in figures in the MS. of my letter. 



MaETLESHAM, NEAIl "WOODBRIDGE, SeARLES V. WoOD, JUN. 



February/ 21st, 1877. 



SARTORIUS VON WALTERSHAUSEN. 



Born 17 Dec, 1809. Died 16 Oct., 1876. 



The death is announced of Professor Sartorius von Waltershausen, 

 of Gottingen, on the 16th of last October, after a long and painful 

 illness. The loss of a man who has done so much to advance the 

 science of Petrology will be generally felt and deeply regretted. 

 The obituary notice which has appeared in the Jahrhuch fur Miner- 

 alogie is so singularly meagre that we propose to review in somewhat 

 fuller detail his history and scientific labours. 



Wolfgang Sartorius von Waltershausen was born on the 17th De- 

 cember, 1809. He was an illustrious son of an illustrious father, 

 Georg Sartorius von Waltershausen, who was Professor of Philosophy 

 in the University of Gottingen. The father was a great friend of 

 Goethe, and was more especially known as the author of the 

 " Geschichte des Hanseatischen Bundes." The son, after having 

 taught for a time in some of the German schools of learning, and 

 having published some memoirs on terrestrial magnetism, devoted 

 several years to travel. From 1834 to 1846 he visited various 

 districts, where the phenomena of volcanic activity could be studied 

 with advantage, and the observations made in the field formed the 

 material for more important memoirs issued in later years. He 

 was for a considerable period in Sicily, returning in 1843, and his 

 "Atlas " of researches on the rocks of Etna appeared three years later. 

 In 1845 he visited Ireland and Scotland, and in 1846 we find him in 

 Norway and Iceland. In the journey to the Danish Island he was 

 accompanied by his friend Bunsen, and the results of the investiga- 



