1897- OBITUARY. 135 



and experimental side. His greatness as a physiologist depended very 

 largely on his exquisite skill and ingenuity as an experimenter. Some 

 of his theories and views have been challenged, notably by Hermann, 

 and it is pretty generally admitted that his " currents of rests " are 

 rather to be explained as " currents of injury." Nevertheless, the 

 great bulk of the new facts which he discovered in his own special 

 sphere remains not only uncontroverted but confirmed by subsequent 

 experimentation, and if some of the theories which he built on them 

 have required modification, this can in no way detract from the 

 greatness of his work as a pioneer in the field. In Du Bois-Reymond 

 has passed away a true father of modern physiology, and one whose 

 influence will be felt so long as the science shall endure. 



DAVID ROBERTSON. 



Born (Nov. 28, O.S.), December 10, 1806. Died 

 November 20, 1896. 



1T7HEN David Robertson was three weeks old he lost his father. 

 VV His mother was left with three little children and no external 

 resources. At the age of eight the ' wee Davie ' became a cowherd. 

 At twenty-four, having had experience of many and varied employ- 

 ments, he took up the fancy that, instead of being a farm labourer, he 

 might as well be a medical man. He was on the point of accom- 

 plishing this heroic resolve, when, just as he was ready to take his 

 degree, his course was again diverted. He became a tradesman, a 

 merchant, a man of substance, and eventually, at about the age of 

 fifty-four, he relinquished the lucrative paths of commerce in favour 

 of an ever-growing and engrossing devotion to the study of natural 

 history. Thenceforward the observation of nature, with a special 

 leaning to aquatic zoology and botany, became the business and the 

 pleasure of his life. His researches were carried on in the most 

 unselfish spirit. The keynote of his work was helpfulness. He 

 might be diffident and over-anxious in publishing papers of his own, 

 though these were numerous and excellent, but he was ever eager, 

 confident, and enthusiastic when encouraging others, when showing 

 hospitality to men of science, when searching for needed specimens, 

 or when discovering and making known some 'happy hunting 

 ground.' Fortunately, his wife, who survives him, was in full 

 sympathy with his tastes and pursuits, and not only a sympathetic 

 companion but a zealous and highly capable fellow-worker in the 

 same field of science. 



During the latter years of his prolonged and honoured life, 

 Robertson's heart was much set on securing the permanence of the 

 Cumbrae Station for marine studies. In a letter to the present writer, 

 dated December 3, 1895, ^^ says: — 



" You will, I am sure, be pleased to hear that the prospects of the 



