Iviii PEOCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. [May 1899,- 



Alphonse Beiakt was for the fifth time President of the Geo- 

 logical Society of Belgium (Lie'ge) at the time of his death, on 

 March 15th, 1898, in the 74th year of his age, at Morlanwelz, 



His name was for some time associated with that of Cornet, 

 who died before him, the two observers doing much work on Belgian 

 geology — Tertiary, Cretaceous, and Palaeozoic, including a geological 

 map of the central part of Hainault, in thirty sheets. 



M. Briart read several papers on geology before the Belgian 

 Academy and the Geological Society of Belgium. He was chief 

 engineer of the Mariemont and Bascoup Collieries. 



He was elected a Poreign Correspondent of this Society in 1884. 



A funeral discourse, by Prof. Dewalque, is printed in the Annales 

 de la Societe geologique de Belgique, vol. xxv (1898) pp. liii-lviii. 



By the death, last July, of William Guybon Atheestone, M,D., 

 we have lost our oldest South African geologist. 



He settled in medical practice at Grahamstown in early life, 

 and in 1839 becoming interested in local geology, he took up the 

 subject thoroughly after seeing Mr. A. G. Bain's reptilian fossils. 

 Mr. Bain has said of him, ' from that day an intimac}^ began 

 between us, which soon ripened into friendship,' and he speaks of 

 ' the transcendent talents of Dr. Atherstone, which soon imbued our 

 minds with elevated ideas, and gave fresh vigour and stimulus to 

 our pursuits.' 



Dr. Atherstone started a Geological Society at Grahamstown, 

 which city has been called the birthplace of South African Geology, 

 helped in the establishment and progress of the Albany Natural 

 History Museum, and became a Fellow of our Society in 1864. 



He went on various expeditions, in one with. Bain, in another 

 with Eubidge, accounts of which have been published. Some were 

 for geological investigation, one to examine copper-bearing rocks 

 in Namaqualand, and another to examine caves. He gave many 

 fine reptilian fossils to the British Museum (Natural History). 



Through him the occurrence of the diamond at De Kalk was 

 brought to light in 1867, and to this is owing to a large extent the 

 great diamond- working in South Africa. Later on, he visited the 

 diamond-mines and wrote many notes to local publications on 

 matters connected therewith.^ 



^ This account has been condensed from a notice by Prof. T. R. Jones, 

 ' Nat. Sci.' vol. xiv (1898) pp. 73-74. 



