32 FOUNDERS OF OCEANOGRAPHY 



the time of feasting came, sat down together whole and 

 harmonious, all their wounds healed and forgotten. Our 

 modern Thors, the hammer- wielders of Science, enjoy similar 

 rough sport with like pleasant ending." His purpose was 

 to show that scientific disputes need not lead to unfriendly 

 relations — that after tearing each other to pieces, meta- 

 phorically, in the section room the protagonists can dine 

 together amicably as '' Red Lions." 



There is no doubt that he was in poor health during this 

 summer, and had had no adequate rest. He returned to 

 Edinburgh in October to prepare for his winter course, which 

 sta-rted on November 1st. But after a week's lecturing he 

 broke down completely from weakness and an attack of 

 fever, which soon showed symptoms of kidney trouble, and 

 became rapidly worse, leading to his death a few days later. 

 His old friend. Professor Hughes Bennett, who was with him 

 to the last, in an obituary notice, states : "A chronic disease 

 contracted when in the East, re-excited and rendered violent 

 by a severe cold caught last autumn, and which burst out 

 with uncontrollable fury about ten days ago, was the imme- 

 diate cause of his premature death." 



In judging of the man it is important to bear in mind 

 the dominating influence of his personality and conversation, 

 quite apart from his publications. Few can now be alive 

 who have held converse with him, but from remarks in the 

 writings of his contemporaries we gain the impression of a 

 genial and lively genius, with a free and independent spirit 

 that roamed over a wide range in quest of knowledge and 

 occupation. 



Although an ardent student, he was far from being the 

 recluse or the typical absent-minded " philosopher," as the 

 man of science was called in those days. Accomplished, and 

 with high social gifts, he appreciated versatility and sports- 

 manlike qualities in others, and he once stated (in an article 

 on Sir Humphry Davy's Salmonia) that he " would 

 undertake, without traveUing far, to furnish philosophers, of 



