Memoir of the late George Tate, by Mr R. Middlemas. 273 



Mr Tate commenced the study of geology at an early 

 period, probably about the year 1832, when that science was 

 in its infancy. No works of any value had then appeared in 

 England save " Smith's Tabular View of British Strata," 

 " Buckland's Vindicise Geologicse," and " Reliquae Diluvi- 

 anse." The publication of " Lyell's Principles of Geology " 

 seems to have induced Mr Tate to commence a series of 

 investigations in the neighbourhood of Alnwick, which 

 gradually extended over Northumberland, Durham, and a 

 great part of Berwickshire. His reading kept pace with the 

 views then rapidly propounded by scientific men, and, as he 

 was indefatigable in his investigations, his practical know- 

 ledge enabled him to grapple with problems then little 

 understood. He seems early to have paid special attention to 

 the Carboniferous and Mountain Limestone formations ,• and 

 these formed the subjects of his earliest illustrations and 

 lectures* Each journey added to his collection of fossils ; 

 many of which were so unique as to be figured in the 

 monographs issued by the Palseontographical Society. Mr 

 Tate favoured the public with the sight of a part of his col- 

 lection in an exhibition held in the Corn Exchange, Alnwick, 

 in the year 1869, on the first distribution of prizes to the 

 students of the Science and Art classes in connection with 

 the Mechanics' Institute. The number and variety of fossils 

 were so great, that few people imagined so much could be 

 accomplished by a single person. He also lectured upon that 

 occasion. 



Mr Tate was elected a Fellow of the Geological Society ; 

 an Honorary Member of the Hastings and Newcastle-upon- 

 Tyne Literary and Philosophical Societies ; and an Associate 

 of the Edinburgh Geological Society. 



In the year 1849, Mr Tate first noticed the marks of ice 

 action on the rocks of Northumberland. His observations 

 were made upon the farm of Hawkhill, about 2§ miles from 

 Alnwick. There, underneath a bed of red tough clay, the 

 surface of the limestone rock was polished, scratched, and 

 grooved, over an area of 20 feet by 6, from which the clay had 

 been removed ; and the same polished and scratched surface 



* .Estheria striata var Tateana, Candona Tateana, Beyrichia Tatei, fossil 

 Entomostraca of the Mountain Limestone were named by Professor T. R. 

 Jones after Mr Tate. 



