76 



NATURE 



[September 25, 1919 



treatment, and he had endeavoured to ensure that 

 university grants should be increased — not merely 

 by a temporary increase which was given to repair 

 the injury done by the war, but by a permanent 

 increase. That expenditure would grow as they 

 could afford it, but they must not expect the 

 Government to move too far. People might be 

 enthusiastic men of science and devoted sons of 

 universities on Monday, but on Tuesday, when 

 he presented the budget, they were taxpayers. 

 "... The Government would do its share on 

 one condition only — that the towns did their share 

 also." 



The toast of "The Navy, Army, and Air Force," 

 proposed by Mr. Gilbert C. Vyle, was replied to 

 by Admiral Sir G. G. Goodwin, who acknowledged 

 the debt of the Navy to \\'att, and by Colonel 

 Barraclough (professor of engineering in Sydney 

 University), the latter expressing the opinion that 

 " if the agitator, the profiteer, the man who was 

 inclined to relax his labours, could all come to 

 Soho and live, as the visitors to that commemora- 

 tion had done, with the mernories of Watt and his 

 co-workers, they would go away with a higher 

 sense of their responsibilities to themselves and 

 to the community of which they formed a part." 



The American .Ambassador proposed the toast 

 of "The City of Birmingham" in an admirable 

 speech, in the course of which he said that one 

 date in the summary of the important events in 

 the life of James Watt was that of the American 

 Revolution. "The ideas that the revolution 

 embodied had not lost their force. But, great as 

 that revolution was, and important as Americans 

 believed the date to be, he was reminded that it 

 was' the year of an even greater revolution — the 

 year when James Watt made his invention a prac- 

 tical success." 



The toast of " The Memory of James \\'att " 

 was proposed by Prof. Burstall, who emphasised 

 the value to James Watt of the strength and co- 

 operation of Boulton. 



Prof. Rateau brought "a tribute of honour and 

 appreciation from science and labour in I'rance 

 to the memory of the great man in whose honour 

 they were met that day." 



On Thursday, at a special degree congregation, 

 honorary degrees were conferred by the University 

 on the American Ambassador, M. Auguste Rateau, 

 Prof. Archibald Barr, Sir George Beilby", Colonel 

 Blackett, Engineer Vice-Admiral Sir George 

 Goodwin, and Mr. F. W. Lanchester. It was 

 much regretted that Sir Charles Parsons was 

 unable to be present. 



On Saturday representatives of the Chamber 

 of Commerce, the University, and engineering 

 workers in Birmingham formed an impressive pro- 

 cession headed by a model of a James Watt 

 engine. The interest taken by the workers them- 

 selves in the memory of Watt is perhaps the most 

 encouraging feature of the commemoration, for 

 the future depends very largely on the attitude 

 of organised labour, and there is no doubt that 

 many of the leaders of labour take an enlightened 

 view of the educational needs of the country. 

 NO. 2604, VOL. 104] 



PROF. ]. IF. n. TRAIL, F.R.S. 



WE regret to record the death on Sep- 

 tember 18 of Prof. Trail, who for forty-two 

 years held the Regius chair of botany in the Uni- 

 versity of Aberdeen. Carrying his sixty-eight 

 years with uncommon vigour, he lectured twice 

 daily to the overcrowded classes of the past 

 summer, and he seemed in July to be in the enjoy- 

 ment of his usual health, so that it was with a 

 shock that his friends heard of a serious opera- 

 tion. At first he rallied, but then rapidly sank. 

 Those who knew him could hardly imagine for 

 him any other end than that he should thus die 

 in harness. 



Prof. Trail was a marked figure in Aberdeen. 

 Orcadian by birth, he was the son of Dr. S.' Trail, 

 professor of systematic theology in Aberdeen, and 

 moderator of the General Assembly in 1874. He 

 graduated with highest honours in natural science 

 in 1876, and took his M.D. in 1879. I" 1873-75 

 he travelled in Northern Brazil as naturalist to an 

 exploring expedition, and used this opportunity 

 for making a special study of Palms, of which 

 family he had an expert knowledge. His results 

 were published in a series of papers " On the 

 Palms of the Amazon Valley," contributed to the 

 Journal of Botany. On his return at the age of 

 twenty-six he was appointed to the chair of botany 

 in succession to Dr. Dickie. He held that post 

 till his death. 



Prof. Trail's work was marked by extreme 

 accuracy, and guided by a keen sense of dut\'. 

 Once a specimen was collected, he felt the obliga- 

 tion to make the most of it. The resuTt of such 

 work, extending over so long a period, has been 

 the amassing of an enormous record of facts relat- 

 ing especially to the native flora. The Scottish 

 Naturalist was one of the chief channels of his 

 publication. There he produced a series of papers 

 on Scottish galls and on leaf-diseases, which will 

 provide rich material for those who follow. His 

 mind was attracted by fact rather than by theo- 

 retical construction. His knowledge of those 

 details which he studied was singularly wide and 

 exact. For instance, having noted the inconstancy 

 of floral construction in Polygonum aviculare, he 

 monographed a single plant, and found as many 

 as 120 distinct variations in number and relation 

 of the floral parts borne upon it. He was rather 

 reluctant in publication, but he was most generous 

 in imparting his knowledge by correspondence, 

 thus suggesting the stores that lay behind. These 

 were most readily revealed to the botanical visitor 

 to his house. 



Prof. Trail was thoroughly typical of Aberdeen, 

 vigorous, self-reliant, with a strong sense of duty, 

 and a touch of austerity in its performance. 

 Brought up in the granite city, he took a large 

 hand in the guidance of education there. Not only 

 was he a leader in the University itself, but he also 

 took part locally in directing that secondary educa- 

 tion which forms the natural foundation for the 

 higher learning. Himself son of a professor and 

 moderator, he married a daughter of the late 



