March 3, 192 1] 



NATURE 



17 



tude, his perfect lucidity of thought and speech, 

 the richness and rarity of his store of learning in 

 so many fields, and the scrupulousness of his taste, 

 which abhorred and swept before it all that par- 

 took of the pretentious or the base. 



Prof. Miall's intellectual interests were not con- 

 fined to science. He had a real love of art and 

 music, and was keenly interested in the works of 

 Greek and Latin authors and in the classics of 

 English, French, and German literature. His 

 activities in biology, both as teacher and as inves- 

 tigator, coincided with the great output of bio- 

 logical work which followed upon the publication 

 of Darwin's "Origin of Species." His earlier 

 scientific memoirs were mainly geological and 

 palaeontological. Shortly after he was appointed 

 curator of the Museum at Bradford he was instru- 

 mental in bringing to light a newly discovered 

 Labyrinthodont which had been found in a coal 

 mine at Low Moor. It was in connection with 

 this discovery that he first made the acquaintance 

 of Prof. Huxley and Sir Charles Lyell, and the 

 incident seems to have been a turning point in 

 his career. Between the years 1869 and 1881 he 

 published numerous papers on geology and 

 palceontology. He also wrote a manual for 

 students on "The Skull of the Crocodile," and, 

 in conjunction with F. Greenwood, an important 

 memoir on "The Anatomy of the Indian 

 Elephant." 



From 1881 onwards Prof. Miall's biological in- 

 vestigations were mainly confined to the structure 

 and development of insects, and his books on 

 "The Cockroach," "The Harlequin Fly," and 

 "The Natural History of Aquatic Insects" are 

 among the most important memoirs on insect 

 structure and development published during the 

 latter half of the nineteenth century. These books, 

 which are written with great lucidity and charm, 

 have been an inspiration to many naturalists, and 

 are enduring examples of how to "study the 

 works of Nature with open eyes." 



In his love of Nature Prof. Miall had very much 

 the temperament of Gilbert White, and in col- 

 laboration with his friend Dr. W. Warde Fowler 

 he brought out a scholarly edition of "The 

 Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne," 

 enriched with an abundance of notes explaining 

 and amplifying Gilbert White's observations. 

 The historical side of biology always had great 

 attractions for him. He paid attention to it in 

 his teaching, and two books from his pen. "A 

 History of Bioloey" and a remarkably interest- 

 ing account of "The Early Naturalists and their 

 Work," testify to the wide range of his reading 

 and the great knowledge which he possessed. 



Prof. Miall's zeal as an educational reformer is 

 well known. In his book on "Thirty Years of 

 Teaching " his ideals and aspirations are clearly 

 set forth, and in his " Object-Lessons from 

 Nature," " Round the . Year," and "House, 

 Garden, and Field "he has given a most delight- 

 ful insight into the methods which should be 

 employed in the rational study of natural history 

 as opposed to mere collecting and the compila- 

 NO. 2679, VOL. 107] 



tion of lists of species. He was far from dis^ 

 paraging the study of systematic zoology or 

 • botany, but he did most strenuously deprecate 

 aimless work "which springs from no real curi- 

 osity about Nature and attempts to answer no 

 scientific questions." He loved Nature with all 

 his heart, and ever served her faithfully. 



A. S. : H. W. 



By the death of Prof. Louis Compton Miall, 

 emeritus professor of biology in the University of 

 Leeds, there passes away the last but one of the 

 small body of teachers — less than a dozen in 

 number — who, as members of the professoriate of 

 the Yorkshire College, may be said to have laid 

 the foundations of the University and, in a 

 measure, to have fashioned its aims and destiny. 

 The Yorkshire College, the progenitor of the 

 University, was established in Leeds in 1874. 

 Miall, who at that time was secretary and cura- 

 tor of the Museum of the Philosophical and Liter- 

 ary Society of Leeds, had acquired more than a 

 local reputation as a geologist and botanist, and 

 was then embarking upon the biological inquiries 

 upon which his position as a man of science 

 mainly rests. He was known throughout the 

 West Riding as an excellent teacher and an admir- 

 able lecturer who could always command the 

 interest and sympathetic attention of his audience. 

 It was inevitable that the college should seek to 

 secure his co-operation as a member of its staif. 

 He joined it first as lecturer, and afterwards as 

 professor of biology in its second session, and his 

 appointment marks a turning point in its history. 

 In its earliest days its governing body had no 

 clearly defined policy concerning its scope and 

 functions. It had been established partly in 

 response to a demand for greater facilities in tech- 

 nical education, and partly _from a desire to see 

 in Yorkshire an institution similar in character to 

 that of Owens College in Manchester. One sec- 

 tion would make it a technical or trade school 

 pure and simple, whilst another section, of more 

 liberal views and with more sympathy towards 

 the Itterae humaniores, hoped it might develop 

 upon broader lines. The accession of Miall deter- 

 mined the Issue ; biology had no immediate or 

 obvious place in the curriculum of such a trade 

 school as was then contemplated. Professors of 

 art subjects were thereafter added as quickly as 

 the finances of the struggling institution per- 

 mitted, and the college was thus fairly placed 

 upon lines that directly led first to its inclusion in 

 the federated Victoria University, and eventually 

 to its independent establishment as the L^nlversity 

 of Leeds. 



The turn in the fortunes of the Yorkshire 

 College was without doubt largelv determined by 

 the personality and character of Miall and by the 

 respect in which he was held by all who knew him 

 and had the Interests of the Institution at 

 heart, whatever might be their conception of its, 

 functions. By no section of the body corporate 

 was he more warmly welcomed than by the staff. 



