6i4 



NATURE 



[Oct. 23, 1879 



media. These were published in the Proceedings of the 

 Royal Society, vol. xvii., 1869. A series of papers in the 

 Proceedings of the Royal Society and in the Journal of 

 Anatomy followed, giving the result of observations upon 

 the circulation of the blood, conducted with great ingenuity 

 by means of the sphygmograph, aided by various modifi- 

 cations and improvements upon the original instrument 

 due to his inventive and mechanical skill. It is, indeed, 

 probable that physiology is the subject to which he would 

 most willingly have devoted his attention had not his 

 energies been turned to the pursuit of morphology by his 

 receiving the appointment, in January, 1872, of Prosector 

 to the Zoological Society. This appointment is one which, 

 perhaps more than any now existing, comes near to an 

 ideal endowment of research. An unlimited amount of 

 new material is placed in the hands of its occupant 

 there are no duties beyond those of making and 

 recording original observations, and ample facilities 

 are given for the publication and illustration of all 

 the observations made. To the efficient performance 

 of the duties of this office Mr. Garrod applied him- 

 self with great energy and aeal, as testified by his 

 numerous contributions upon the comparative anatomy of 

 the vertebrate animals, which have enriched the publica- 

 tions of the Society, from the date of his appointment to 

 the present time. He devoted great attention to the 

 anatomy of birds, hitherto too much neglected, and his 

 observations upon their myology and visceral anatomy 

 were beginning to throw some light upon the very difficult 

 and obscure subject of the mutual affinities of the mem- 

 bers of this class. The curious and most unexpected 

 variations in structure often revealed in the dissection of 

 species thought to be closely allied, soon convinced him 

 of the necessity of far more extended and minute observa- 

 tions than had previously been made, and those who 

 closely watched his work and knew that besides the 

 observations he had had time to complete and publish, 

 he had already accumulated a vast mass of facts, partly in 

 notes and drawings and partly in the stores of his memory, 

 feel most keenly how much has been lost by his early 

 death. 



His eagerness in acquiring knowledge was only 

 equalled by his activity in imparting it to others, and he 

 had a remarkably easy and lucid method of explaining, 

 even to an uninstructed audience, difficult problems of 

 physiology or anatomy. With the black-board or some 

 ingeniously contrived diagram or mechanical illustration, 

 he was never at a loss to make his hearers comprehend 

 his meaning. These great and varied powers probably 

 tempted him to overtask his strength. Not content with 

 his work at the Zoological Society, he sought for and 

 obtained the Professorship of Zoology and Comparative 

 Anatomy at King's College, in 1874, and the FuUerian 

 Professorship of Physiology at the Royal Institution in 

 1876. He was also appointed one of the Examiners in 

 the Natural Science Tripos at Cambridge in 1875, ^'^^ 

 was for several years a constant contributor to this journal. 

 In 1 876, when he had but just completed his thirtieth year, 

 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. 



In the simple and single-hearted devotion to the 

 sciences he cultivated, he was without a particle of 

 jealousy or mistrust of others, but was always anxious to 

 assist those who were working in the same direction, and 

 his room at the Zoological Gardens was gradually be- 

 coming the profitable resort of many of the younger 

 workers at comparative anatomy, who were encouraged in 

 their labours by his advice and example. 



Up to little more than a year ago he was apparently 

 in the enjoyment of vigorous health, but symptoms of the 

 insidious disease, phthisis, which terminated his existence, 

 then for the first time showed themselves. Through the 

 gradual decline of his powers, and amid considerable suf- 

 fering, borne with the greatest patience and calmness, he 

 continued to the last to spend all his remaining strength 



in making the knowledge which he had acquired available 

 for the instruction of those that should come after him. 



W. H. F. 



JOHN MIERS, F.R.S. 

 'T^HIS well-known botanist, whose death took place on 

 -•• the 17th inst., was born in London on August 25, 

 1789, of Yorkshire parents. After leaving school he 

 devoted his time to the study of mineralogy and che- 

 mistry, in which latter science he made a series of 

 important researches, but it was only subsequently during 

 his long residence in South America that he acquired his 

 taste for botanical knowledge, and by making dissections 

 and drawings of plants he became a botanist. In 1825 

 he paid a short visit to England and then published his 

 " Travels in Chili and La Plata." In Brazil, where he 

 subsequently resided eight years engaged in his profes- 

 sional engineering labours, he made extensive collections 

 of plants and insects. After his return to England he was 

 elected a Fellow of the Linnean Society in 1839 and a 

 Fellow of the Royal Society in 1843, acting for a time on 

 the Council of both societies. He contributed many- 

 papers of interest to the Linnean Society, and published 

 the "Illustrations" and the "Contributions" to South 

 American Botany. He served on the jury of the Brazilian 

 Section of the Exhibitions of 1862, and of 1867 of Paris, 

 and for his labours the Emperor conferred on him the 

 honour of Commander of the Order of the Rose. His 

 zeal and energy in his pursuits were most untiring, and 

 he only desisted from his labours when forced by failing 

 health in July last, since which time he gradually became 

 weaker, till death ended his life on the 17th inst. in the 

 ninety-first year of his age. It is understood that Mr. 

 Miers has left his botanical collections to the British 

 Museum. 



As a botanist, Mr. Miers was most painstaking and 

 accurate in his investigation of details. His descriptions, 

 and especially his original drawings, afford ample evidence 

 of this. On the other hand, his estimate of the relative 

 value of the details he elaborated with such zeal and care 

 was often at fault. His observation was keen and accu- 

 rate, but his judgment was less to be relied on. It is on 

 this account, probably, that multitudes of species and, 

 in lesser numbers, genera, and even orders, proposed by 

 him, have not been generally accepted by his brother 

 naturalists. Mr. Miers, we believe, never adopted evolu- 

 tionary views, but remained a believer in the fixity of 

 specific types. What, however, is more remarkable is 

 that to the last he disbelieved in the action of the pollen 

 and of the pollen tube in the formation of the embryo- 

 plant. In this particular Mr. Miers probably stood alone 

 among his fellows. 



But whatever difference of opinion may exist as to the 

 value of his inferences, there can be none as to the 

 laborious accuracy of his descriptions, the fidelity and 

 beauty of his drawings (too often spoiled in the reproduc- 

 tion), and the generous kindliness of the man. 



NOTES 



M. Raoul riCTET has been appointed Professor of Physics 

 by the Council of State of Geneva, at the University of his 

 native city. 



M. Krantz, the director of the Paris Exhibition of 1878, is- 

 publishing the lectures delivered at the Trocadero. It will con- 

 sist of no less than thirty-five thick 8vo volumes, five of which 

 have already gone through the press. 



At the meeting on October 7 of the Manchester Literary and 

 Philosophical Society, the president, Dr. Joule, described a 

 simple means for checking the oscillations of a telescope. It 

 consisted of a leaden ring placed centrally about the axis of the 



