Obituary. (i L3 



present ' Verhandlungen. J The volume contains, besides the 

 proceedings of the Society for 1903 and a list of its members, 

 several original contributions to our knowledge of Bavarian 

 Ornithology, which will be of interest to students of Palse- 

 arctic Bird-life. Our active friend Dr. Carl Parrot, of 

 Munich, the President of the Society, is also the editor 

 of its periodical. 



XL II. — Obituary. 



William Thomas Blanford, CLE., LL.D., F.R.S., 

 and Lieut. Sutton Aylmer Davies. 



It is my sad task to chronicle the death of one of our most 

 talented members, one who became a Fellow of the British 

 Ornithologists' Union in 1873, and wdiose well-known face 

 and figure have been seen for many years taking an active 

 part at all scientific gatherings. He passed away on the 

 23rd of June last, at the age of 72, at his residence in Bedford 

 Gardens, Campden Hill. Although for some time his friends 

 had noticed his failing strength, the news of his death came 

 as an unexpected shock to many. Science lias lost in 

 William Blanford one of its most profound thinkers, and 

 the Societies to which he belonged mourn for a Fellow who 

 early in his career began to enrich the pages of their 

 Journals. 



The list of the works and papers contributed by Dr. 

 Blanford reaches nearly 180. The product of some years is 

 surprising, not only for the number of papers that were 

 written, but for the wide range of subjects which they cover 

 in Geology, Geography, and Zoology ; and in this last are 

 comprised papers on Mammals, Reptiles, Birds, and 

 Mollusca : all excellent of their kind. Space does not 

 admit of the record of his long service when employed on 

 the Geological Survey of India, to which he was appointed 

 in 1855 — this will be alluded to in other obituary notices, 

 as it has been in ' Nature ' ; neither need I touch on his 

 early life and education, and the honours he gained, for the 

 details of these will.be found in an excellent account by 



