374 Obituary Notices of Fellows deceased. 



exact scientific knowledge, with practical experience in the details 

 .of mining work, by which Le Neve Foster was always distinguished. 



By his transfer from Cornwall to the district of North Wales, which 

 took place in 1880, Le Neve Foster's purely scientific work was for a 

 time interrupted. He was now called upon to advise the Government 

 upon many questions connected with the administration of mines and 

 upon the legislation necessary to ameliorate the condition of the miners. 

 During the later portion of his official career he not only inspected the 

 metalliferous mines of his own district, but also the ore and stone- 

 quarries all over the country his advice and assistance being called for 

 in all cases where accidents occurred. The twenty-nine annual reports 

 which he published in connexion with his office supply ample evidence 

 of the zeal and intelligence with which his duties were discharged, and 

 of the efforts in which he was constantly engaged to improve the con- 

 dition and extend the educational advantages provided for the mining 

 population. In 1895 he was called upon to commence the editing of 

 an annual report on the mineral industries of the United Kingdom, 

 and a comparison of their output with those of other countries. This 

 was a work demanding great labour and powers of research, and its 

 value was so greatly appreciated by the Government and the public 

 generally that he was requested to continue the work after his retire- 

 .ment from the Inspectorship of Mines, which took place in 1901. 



In 1890 a new sphere of activity was opened to LeNeve Foster, into 

 which he threw himself with his accustomed energy. Sir Warington 

 Smyth, the first lecturer on mining and mineralogy in De la Beche's 

 foundation the School of Mines at Jermyn Street died suddenly in 

 the summer of that year, and it was universally felt that no more 

 suitable successor could be found than Clement Le Neve Foster. 

 Great changes had taken place in the old mining school since the 

 days when Le Neve Foster had listened to the inspiring lectures of 

 his old teacher and friend Warington Smyth. The efforts of Huxley, 

 seconded as they were by his colleagues upon the Council of the 

 School, now incorporated with the Eoyal College of Science, had led 

 to the establishment of systems of practical instruction in connection 

 with nearly all the subjects taught in the College, and in the task of 

 arranging similar courses of practical instruction in mining Le Neve 

 Foster found abundant scope for his energy, knowledge, and wide 

 experience. His acquaintance with the mines and mine-managers all 

 over the country enabled him to make favourable arrangements for the 

 students of the School of Mines to work underground, both in collieries 

 and ore-mines, during their vacations, and thus obtain that direct 

 experience in the details of mining work without which much of the 

 theoretical instruction would have proved fruitless. In every effort 

 to improve the teaching and further the interests of the students of 



