Ixvi PKOCEEDINGS OP THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. [March 10. 13, 



belonging to the older school of geology, and though all his work 

 on the Archaean rocks was done before the introduction of modern 

 methods of petrographical research, he recognized the importance 

 of the results of their application ; and it must be placed to his 

 credit that, without their aid, he succeeded in establishing the 

 division of the Archaean rocks into two entirely distinct systems, 

 a division which has been found to hold good in all other regions 

 where an extensive area of Archaean rocks is exposed and has been 

 studied with care. 



After leaving the Survey he entered the service of the Baroda State 

 for a time, and afterwards that of the Mysore Government, where 

 he organized a State geological service. Besides his purely geo- 

 logical work he was one of the earliest discoverers, and later a most 

 enthusiastic investigator of relics of ancient man in Southern India ; 

 he formed an extensive collection of stone-implements, which is 

 now deposited in the Madras Museum, and was for long recog- 

 nized as a leading authority on this branch of research, which 

 formed the subject dealt with in a paper published in vol. xxiv of 

 the Quarterly Journal of this Society. He was elected a Fellow of 

 the Geological Society in 1867. [R. D. 0.] 



By the death of Captain Arthur. William Stiefe on August 14tb, 

 1912, we lose one of the regular attendants at our meetings. 

 Stiffe was mainly educated at the Stuttgart Polytechnic, where he 

 gained a silver medal for higher mathematics. In February 1849, 

 being in his 18th year, he entered the navy of the East India 

 Company as midshipman. He was lieutenant of the steam-frigate 

 Ajdaha during the Persian war of 185G-57, and was present at the 

 capture of both Bushire and Muhamra, receiving a medal for his 

 services. He was then employed in making hydrographic surveys 

 of the Persian Gulf and other areas for the Indian Government. 



"When on leave in England after the Persian war he studied 

 engineering under James Abernethy, and was subsequent^ appointed 

 Engineer-in-Chief of the cables laid in the Persian Gulf by the 

 Government of India. On the abolition of the Indian Navy in 1857, 

 he was appointed to the Royal Indian Marine, and served in it 

 until he retired with the rank of Commander in April, 1888. 



In December 1873, a paper by Stiffe on the ' Mud-Craters & 

 Geological Structure of the Mekran (Baluchistan) Coast ' was com- 

 municated by Ramsay to this Society, and in 1874 he became one 

 of our Fellows. Other communications by him will be found in 

 the. Quarterly Journals for 1884 and 1890. 



