LINNEAIS' SOCIETY OF LONDON. 39 



During the year three more volumes of Reports of H.M.S. 

 ' Challenger ' Expedition have been published, comprising : — 

 the Keport on the Anatomy of Petrels, by the late W. A. Forbes ; 

 the Eejiort on the Deep-sea Medusae, by Prof. Hackel ; the Report 

 on the Holotliuroidea, by Hjalmar Theel ; the Report on the 

 Ophiuroidea, by Mr. Lyman ; the Report on the Marsupials, by 

 Dr. Cunningham; the Report on the Actiniaria, by Prof. R. 

 Hertwig ; and the Report on the Tunicata, by Dr. Herdman. 



Obituaries. 



Francis Maitland Balfour was born Nov. 10, 1851, at 

 WhittiiJghame, Haddiugtonshire, JN". B., entered Harrow School 

 in January 1805 ; and during the la^t three years he speut there 

 he eagerly availed himstlf of every opportunity of practical work 

 in biology, dissecting specimens of all the types he could meet 

 with. He neglected no part of comparative anatomy ; but in 

 so large a subject, much was necessarily derived from books. 

 He took great interest in the School Scientific Society ; and an 

 essay written by him then was esteemed so meritorious as to be 

 submitted to Prof. Huxley. 



In October 1870 he entered at Ti-inity College, Cambridge ; 

 and in March 1871 he was elected Natural Science Scliolar. 

 Largely aided and directed by Dr. Michael Poster, Balfour at- 

 tached himself at once to the study of animal morphology ; and 

 having obtained his degree of B. A. in the Natural History Tripos 

 in December 1873, he proceeded to Naples, to work in the newly 

 e.-*tablished station. The results of these labours were apparent 

 in his Mouogi'aph on the Development of the Pins of Elasmo- 

 brauch Pishes in 1878, and in many detached papers. 



In October 1874, Balfour was elected to a Natural Science 

 Pellowship at Trinity ; and in the following year he delivered a 

 short course of lectures on embryology. He contiiuied his lec- 

 tures in successive years to a constantly increasing number of 

 students. His great work, on Comparative Embryology, saw the 

 light in 1881, in two volumes 8vo ; and immediately the second 

 volume had passed through the press he started, at Christmas 1881, 

 for Messina. On his return home he was struck down by typhoid 

 fever, which, however, speedily left him. In 1882 a special chair of 

 Animal Morphology was created for him in his own University ; 

 but he was unhappily not fated long to occupy it. In July last ho 

 started for his holiday amongst the Alps ; and all scientific Europe 

 was inexpressibly shocked to hear of his death on July 19, 1882, 

 whilst attempting the ascent of the Aiguille Blanche from Cour- 

 mayeur, with one guide. But the details of the accident must 

 remain ever unknown. 



Of the loss which science has sustained, an eloquent tribute 

 has been paid elsewhere (Nature, Aug. 3, 1882, p. SH). He 



