SIR DAVID (;ILL. 201 



African Association for the Advancement of Science was contem- 

 plated, Gill was called into consultation, and the present constitu- 

 tion of the Association owes much to his advice. He was chosen 

 as its first president, and it was largely due to his influence that 

 the Association commenced its existence on a basis which has 

 secured its continued and permanent usefulness. He continued, 

 up to the end, his interest in the Institution which he had thus 

 helped to found, and only a very few weeks before his death he 

 presented the Association with the photograph of himself which 

 accompanies this memoir. 



Gill left South Africa in October. 1906, and formally retired 

 from official life on February 20, 1907. 



He made his home in London, where he continued to devote 

 his time to the furtherance of scientific projects. His advice was 

 much sought in relation to the design and construction of large 

 telescopes and geodetic apparatus, and it was seldom that he 

 could be visited without meeting some British or Foreign astrono- 

 mer who was seeking his assistance. He gave his services freely 

 in connection with the various scientific societies, and was rarely 

 absent from the regular meetings of such bodies as the Royal 

 Society of London or the Royal Astronomical Society. He served 

 as President of the British Association in 1907, an honour which 

 he was invited to accept partly in recognition of his extensive 

 services to the Society in connection with its visit to South Africa 

 in 1905. He served on the Council of the Royal Society and the 

 Royal Astronomical Society, and was president of the latter 

 Society in 1909 and 1910. He was nominated as British repre- 

 sentative on the Liternational Geodetic Association and on the 

 International Bureau of Weights and Mea.sures. He recently suc- 

 ceeded Lord Cromer as President of the Research Defence 

 Society. 



In spite of these numerous preoccupations he found leisure 

 to complete a project which he had in view when he left the Cape, 

 and the material for which he had been collecting for some years 

 previously, namely the preparation of a " History and Descrip- 

 tion of the Cape Observatory." 



This work contains a fascinating description of the early 

 struggles of his predecessors, but no reader can fail to appreciate 

 how much the establishment is indebted to Gill for the high status 

 it has attained to-day among the observatories of the world. 



This monumental work forms a fitting climax to a lifetime 

 devoted to the furtherance of natural knowledge, and he was 

 happy in living to see its completion. 



In the middle of December last, though previously in the 

 best of health, he was suddenlv stricken down with an attack of 

 pneumonia. A strong constitution enabled him to rally on two or 

 three occasions, but pleurisy and heart trouble interv^ened, and he 

 quietly breathed his last on January 24th. His wife, though in a 

 weak state of health, nursed him devotedlv till the end. 



