xlii 



which had been left open in the large mathematical work of 

 Delambre. 



It is not often that a death at the age of eighty-eight leaves a 

 blank in the scientific world ; but this must be said of Biot. To 

 the end of his long life he was in perpetual activity. A volume on 

 Indian and Chinese astronomy appeared in 1861, closing the list 

 which began with "Elements of Arithmetic," prefixed to Clairaut's 

 'Algebra,' in 1/97. 



WILLIAM BORRER, Esq., the eldest of the three sons of William 

 Borrer, Esq., of Parkyns-manor, Hurstpierpoint, was born at Hen- 

 field in Sussex on the 13th of June 1781. He passed his long life 

 in the country, discharging the duties incident to a landed proprietor 

 and county magistrate, and earning the respect and attachment of 

 his neighbourhood for his well-considered acts of local beneficence. 

 Amidst his rural occupations Mr. Borrer found ample scope for the 

 pursuit of botany, to which he was enthusiastically devoted, and earned 

 for himself a considerable reputation among British botanists for his 

 extensive and accurate knowledge of indigenous plants. To the great 

 repertory of that species of knowledge, the ' English Botany,' and 

 especially to the Supplement of that work, he contributed valuable 

 materials ; and, in association with his friend Mr. Dawson Turner, 

 commenced a 'History of British Lichens,' which, however, was 

 stopped in its progress by the death of the printer and other unto- 

 ward circumstances. After lying dormant for a quarter of a century, 

 the fragment of this work actually printed was brought out by Mr. 

 Turner for private circulation, and mainly, as he expresses himself, 

 that it might serve as a monument of Mr. Borrer's industry, ability, 

 and profound knowledge of the family of plants to which it refers. 



Mr. Borrer was elected into the Royal Society in 1835. He was 

 also a Fellow of the Linnean Society and of the Wernerian Natural 

 History Society of Edinburgh. He died on the 10th of January 

 1862. 



The life of our late President, SIR BENJAMIN COLLINS BRODIE; 

 Baronet, Serjeant- Surgeon to the Queen, has not been ended long 

 enough to allow even those who are best acquainted with it, fully 

 or, perhaps, correctly to estimate its precise value. 



