466 Anniversary Meeting. [Dec. 1, 



to having him at the meetings of our Council after that was Over. 

 In this we were doomed to disappointment, for a telegram which 

 arrived shortly after the day of the eclipse brought the sad intelli- 

 gence of his death. His illness began shortly before the day of the 

 eclipse, but he did not suffer it to interrupt his preparations, but 

 worked on to the end as far as his failing strength wonld allow. The 

 observation of total solar eclipses was a branch of solar physics to 

 which he had paid special attention, and, considering the circum- 

 stances of his death, we may regard him as a martyr to science, while 

 at the same time his kindly disposition ensured attachment from all 

 who knew him. 



Willinm Lewis Ferdinand Fischer, who was a friend of mine for 

 more than forty years, was a German by birth, and was educated 

 in Germany. He came to Cambridge laier in life than most men 

 commence residence, entering at my own college, Pembroke. At the 

 time when he entered he was only imperfectly acquainted with the 

 English language. He took his degree in due course, having come 

 out fourth wrangler. He obtained a fellowship at Clare College, and, 

 after some time, was elected Professor of Natural Philosophy in the 

 University of St. Andrews, at which town he continued to reside till 

 his death, and where his widow still resides. He was remarkably 

 well acquainted with what had been done in physical science. 



In the middle of January we lost, in Lord Napier of Magdala, a 

 man of world-wide reputation, who had been a Fellow of the Society 

 for more than twenty-three years. A sketch of bis life has already 

 appeared in the ' Proceedings.' 



,The eminent physician Sir William Gull, who for some consider- 

 able time had been in failing health, was taken from us at the 

 beginning of this year. The Fellows have already in their hands a 

 sketch of his life. 



In February there died, at an advanced age, our Fellow Sir Robert 

 Kane, who was eminent among what we may regard as the last 

 generation of chemists. A biographical notice of him is already in 

 the hands of the Fellows. 



Robert William Mylne, who died in July, was for thirty years a 

 Fellow of the Society, to which also both his father and grandfather 

 belonged. He was twelfth in direct descent of a family of architects 

 and engineers, his direct ancestor having had the erection of new 

 buildings for Holyrood Palace in the reign of Charles the Second. 

 He was himself a hydraulic engineer, and was frequently consulted as 

 to water supply, both by the Government and by private companies. 

 He was perhaps best known in the department of geology, and his 

 geological map of London and the neighbourhood, a work of immense 

 labour and expense, was long a standard authority among scientific 

 men. 



