﻿lviii PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. [vol. lxxh, 



he graduated both at Cambridge and at London with high mathe- 

 matical honours, and removed in 1891 to Clifton, where he resided 

 until 1910. In the latter year he was appointed Lecturer in 

 Geology in the University of Oxford, where he died on December 

 3rd, 1915. Beginning with the study of the Earth's crust from 

 the point of view of mathematical physics, he gradually became 

 interested in all geological questions ; and an intimate association 

 with our late Fellow, Edward Wilson, definitely turned his 

 attention to the stratigraphical distribution of fossils. After 

 various preliminary researches, Vaughan proceeded to examine in 

 detail the sections of Carboniferous Limestone in the Avon Gorge, 

 and the results of his work, published in our Quarterly Journal 

 for 1905. and in the Proceedings of the Bristol Naturalists' Society 

 for 1906, were not only a fundamental advance in our knowledge 

 of the Carboniferous Limestone itself, but also a stimulating new 

 departure in stratigraphical studies. Further researches in other 

 areas in England, Wales, Ireland, and Belgium, enabled him to 

 show how widely his results could be applied ; and he gradually 

 acquired so precise a knowledge of the mutations and variations of 

 the Lower Carboniferous fossils, especially corals and brachiopods, 

 that he was able to attempt correlations which otherwise would 

 have been impossible. His last great work, a comparison of the 

 Belgian with the British Carboniferous, was published in our 

 Quarterly Journal so recently as September last. 



Vaughan had been in failing health for some years, and much 

 of his investigation was carried on under difficulties, but he ever 

 retained his cheerful and buoyant spirit and unflagging zeal. He 

 was an inspiring teacher and genial friend, and his untimely loss 

 is mourned by all who knew him. He was elected a Fellow of 

 the Geological Society in 1900, served on the Council from 1912 

 onwards, received the Wollaston Fund in 1907, and the Lyell 

 Medal in 1910. A list of his writings and a portrait appear in 

 the ' Geological Magazine,' dec. 6, vol. iii (1916) pp. 92-96 & pi. v. 



Orville Adalbert Derby, who died suddenly at Bio de 

 Janeiro on November 27th, 19 L5. had devoted his life to the 

 studv of the geology of Brazil, and had done great service to 

 our science. He was born at Kelloggsville (New York) on 

 July 23rd, 1851, and proceeded in 1868 to Cornell University, 

 where he came under the influence of Prof. Charles F. Hartt, who 

 had accompanied the Agassiz Expedition to Brazil in 1865, and 



