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©bituary. 
JAMES WILLIAM DAVIS, F.G.S., F.L.S., F.S.A. 
It is now more than a year since the Yorkshire Geological and 
Polytechnic Society lost, by the rude hand of death, its talented 
and highly esteemed Honorary Secretary, James William Davis, 
F.G.S., f.l.s., f.s.a. No member of this Society ever left so enduring 
an impress on its character and development, and indeed time only 
deepens our sense of obligation and irreparable loss. 
Several excellent memoirs have already appeared of our friend, 
notably those published in the Quarterly Journal of the Geological 
Society of London, No. 198, May 1st, 1894 ; the Geological 
Magazine, September. 1893 ; and the Yorkshire " Naturalist." 
Whilst these have given admirable sketches of the character and 
general work of Mr. Davis, there still remains to be recorded the 
story of his special relations to our own Society, of which he was so 
distinguished an ornament. 
The subject of our memoir was born near Leeds, on 15th April, 
1846, and from his earliest years his abounding energy, his thirst 
for knowledge, his taste for Natural History pursuits, his keen love 
of nature, from both aesthetic and scientific stand points, were 
strongly marked. When a mere boy he regularly kept a diary, in 
which he entered notes on various subjects of interest, and laid down 
for himself an extended course of study, embracing Science, English 
Literature and Languages ; and. ever an indefatigable worker he con- 
trived, whilst neglecting no business duty, to use wisely every 
available spare hour for the cultivation of both body and mind. He 
had a rare gift of attracting the friendship and goodwill of any 
intellectual mind he came in contact with, and the force of his 
personal character usually placed him in the front rank as a leader 
in any scheme with which he became connected. 
About 1864 he removed from Leeds to Halifax, and entered 
himself a student at the Haley Hill College (founded by the late 
Colonel Akroyd, who was an earnest educationalist, at a time when 
