62 PROCEEDIKGS OF THE 



honour lie desired — the eh'ction to tlie rellowsliip of the Koyal 

 Society. Duriiiy; the war he served on the War Oflice Com- 

 mittees for the investigation of 'J'etanus and Trench Fever, and 

 was made Professor ol: Patliology at the Imperial College of 

 Science, a post which he held till liis death. 



It is needless to enumerate all the scientific societies, medical 

 and otherwise, of which Plimnier was a Fellow. His taste for 

 tnieroseopy and for microscopical technique, of which he was a 

 master, attracted him in 1883 to the Koyal Microscopical, of 

 which he hecanie President in 1911-1911?. He joined the liinnean 

 Society in 1890, and was elected to the Council and Vice- 

 Presidency in 1917. He was closely in touch with many of the 

 pathologists on the Continent, where his work was well luiown, 

 and was a memher of the Deutsche Komite fin* Krehsforschung 

 and of the Deutsche Patholo<;ische Gesellschaft. He was the 

 author of a large number of jiapers on a great \ariety of subjects, 

 the most important being those relating to the diseases caused by 

 blood-parasites, especially sleeping sickness, for the treatment of 

 which he intx'oduced the use of antimony compounds. 



My acquaintance with Dr. Plimmer, which began in 1907, 

 when he succeeded Dr. Selicman as Pathologist to tlie Zoological 

 Society, rapidly developed into a niutual friendship and esteem 

 which lasted to the day of his death. During his ten years' 

 tenure of that post 1 saw him almost daily at the CJardensor else- 

 where, aiul the following paragraphs contain my impressions of 

 him, wiih w hich others may or may not agree. 



His appearance was singular, some would say eccentric. He 

 was of medium height, upright in carriage and spare in build, but 

 lacking in uuiscular development and physical strength. Con- 

 stitutionally delicate, he was susceptible to cold and draughts, 

 and an innate timidity of temperament was shown by his fear of 

 thunderstorms and, latterly, by his terror of air-raids. The stern 

 cast of his countenance in repose belied his general character, 

 which was full of fun, a merry twinkle of the eye or a genial smile 

 brightening his whole expression in conversation. His face was 

 shapely, his complexion dark, and he wore whiskers, moustache, 

 a short-trimmed beard, and .spectacles. His complete disregard 

 for convention in fashion was shown by his iuA-ariable custom of 

 wearing at all seasons, iri-espective of weather, an Inverness cloak 

 and a soft, broad-brimmed felt hat of the kind known as a " wide- 

 awake.'' This, and his habit of brushing his black hair straight 

 hack from his high fon'head and temples and allowing it to grow- 

 long on the collar of his brown velvet jacket, gave him a decidedly 

 foreign a])pearance, distinguishing him at once in any crowd of 

 ordinarily attired Englishmen. 



To state that it was always easy to get on Avith him would be 

 <)uite untrue. Ordinarily it would have been difficult to find a 

 pleasanter colleague ; but when worried or overstrained, ]ierhaps 

 from allowing preoccupation with his work to interfere with meal- 

 times, he was subject, like other men similarly constituted, to 

 passing tits of irritability, requiring patience to deal with at the 



