OBITUARY. 



ALLEN HARKER, F.L.S. 

 Born 1848. Died December ig, 1894. 



SCIENTIFIC circles, particularly those of the West of England, 

 have to deplore the loss of a very able man in the prime of life. 

 Allen Harker was in early life engaged in commercial pursuits in 

 Gloucester ; but even then he was far more attracted by scientific 

 research, for which education and inclination fitted him. Conse- 

 quently, in 1881 he was appointed to the Professorial chair of 

 Natural History at the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, in 

 succession to Dr. Fream. He had a sound knowledge, both scientific 

 and practical, of the many subjects he was called upon to teach, and 

 was endeared to his students by his sterling genial character, as 

 well as by his ability to impart information. An active member and 

 Vice-President of the Cotteswold Naturalists' Field Club, he com- 

 municated a number of papers to its Proceedings on the local Natural 

 History. The cuttings on the new line of railway between Swindon 

 and Cheltenham attracted his attention, and he first described the 

 fine section of Kellaways Beds near South Cerney, which was after- 

 wards visited, under his guidance, by the Geologists' Association. 

 Other sections of Cornbrash, Forest Marble, and Great Oolite were 

 described, and in the Great Oolite he discovered traces of Solenopora, 

 identified by Professor H. A. Nicholson, and afterwards described by 

 Dr. Alexander Brown. Among other subjects discussed by Professor 

 Harker were the Habits of some Annelids found in Gloucestershire ; 

 the Green Colouring Matter of Animals ; the Probable early Extinc- 

 tion of a Cotteswold Butterfly ; and the Abstraction of Nitrogen from 

 the Atmosphere by Leguminous Plants. He was a member of the 

 Perthshire Society of Natural Science, and Consulting Botanist and 

 Entomologist to the Newcastle Farmers' Club. 



We regret to record the death of the editor of Knowledge, Mr. 

 A. Cooper Ranyard, which occurred on December 14. Mr. Ranyard 

 was born in 1845, and was a member of Cambridge University. 

 He was a distinguished mathematician and astronomer, and carried 

 on in an admirable way the late Richard Proctor's labours in the 

 popularisation of his favourite study. 



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