January 8, 1920] 



NATURE 



473 



visiting in Oxford with the present writer when 

 Sanderson intimated his intention to retire from 

 his chair; a few hours later, after some hints from 

 his friends, Osier felt the call of the bounteous 

 mother; and not the least of the warrants of his 

 qualities was in this, that his friends in Oxford 

 almost sprang- upon him, as they realised that 

 before them they had a man worthy to succeed 

 his honoured predecessors. 



And if Osier had not also to capture Great 

 Britain, as he captured Oxford, it was because 

 Great Britain was already his mistress. Indeed, 

 there was not a school of medicine in the Old 

 World where his presence was not almost as well 

 known, and his friendship as precious, as in the 

 New. It was characteristic of him that a few 

 years later he obtained leave from Oxford to spend 

 some months in Paris, during which period he 

 regularly attended the clinics of the great hos- 

 pitals, at 7.30 a.m., like an ordinary student. 



Of Osier's contributions to knowledge it is as 

 hard to make a list as it v.ould be for Socrates. 

 They were many, no doubt, but consisted even 

 more in his insemination of other minds, in per- 

 sonal teaching and influence upon his disciples. 

 His great text-book, for many years, and still, 

 the guide of every English-speaking student, had 

 many and almost singular merits. Although within 

 its compass no particular subject could be dealt 

 with at large — for every subject had to be kept in 

 subordination to the whole — yet in the successive 

 editions it was always helpful in any ques,t to turn 

 to "Osier," because, if it were but in a word, or 

 the turn of a sentence, one perceived that the 

 latest and best researches, if not presented in 

 detail, were known to the author. Thus the work 

 was not a provider only, but also to the wise an 

 indicator. The reader feels as he reads that both 

 whole and parts were being continually re-adapted 

 to the developing phases of knowledge. Perhaps 

 the author's most original and valuable researches 

 were in the field of the diseases of the spleen and 

 blood ; but he made eminent contributions also to 

 the study of infections of the heart, of angina 

 pectoris, of malaria, and of many minor maladies. 

 But, the most modest of men, his conversation 

 was always of the good work of others, silent on 

 his own. It is to be hoped that some one of his 

 pupils will prepare a bibliographical list of his 

 essays and papers, and, furthermore, of his 

 literary essays, such as are contained in the 

 delightful volume entitled "^quanimitas." It is 

 said that a great part of the revision of the text- 

 book for the new edition, on which he was at 

 work, is written. 



Osier's work for others was so incessant, and 

 his hospitality so unbounded, that one always 

 wondered when and where he amassed and made 

 use of his learning; learning which, in particular, 

 would discover itself, as it were, by accident, 

 unless, indeed, his companions were expert enough 

 to see it under the surface of his talk. Somehow 

 or other he was not only in sympathy with 

 various subjects of study other than medicine, 

 especially viith literary pursuits, but was able 

 NO. 2619, VOL. 104] 



. also to converse on something like equal terms 

 with the masters of them. When in Cambridge, 

 he found himself thus quite at home with Aldis 

 \\' right in the literature of the seventeenth cen- 

 tury ; and his proficiency in the history of medicine, 



; well known to all students of the subject, gave 



j breadth and living interest to all his teaching. 



, His apprehension must have been as quick as his 

 memory was tenacious and orderly and his po-Aer 

 of expression felicitous. His address last year to 

 the Classical Association was as sparkling as it 

 was profoundly humane ; eminent for the depth 

 of its sympathies and for the compass of its under- 

 standing, it was no lour de force ; the speaker 

 made no pretence to technical scholarship, 

 his discourse had a more free air, was more of 

 the world, more comprehensive than is common 

 with such addresses, but yet on its own ground 

 was a brilliant oration. 



I A quality that made Osier so fascinating a 

 companion, his teaching so vivid and telling, and 

 his parts in debate often so lively, was his wit 

 and humour ; the sharpness of the wit tempered 



i by the sweetness of the humour. Indeed, much 



! of his playfulness and whimsical mystifications 

 were, in naturalist's phrase, a protective colouring 



I to cover deep sensibilities. In its finesse his con- 



! versation resembled that of Henry Sidgwick ; not 

 a more or less laboured deliverance of epigrams, 



I but a light, nimble play of insight and fun. Much 

 of its piquancy lay in the half-concealment of the 

 treasures of the mind. 



It is a touching thought that with all these 

 attainments, all these accomplishments, we are 

 mourning at this moment, not, or not merely, the 

 skilful doctor, the great scholar, the research 

 student, or even the wise and tactful reformer, 

 but far more the sympathetic friend of all and of 

 a few ; one in whom this expansion of his friend- 

 ship made him none the less a dear brother to 

 those who were nearest to him. 



The loss of his one child, an undergraduate of 

 Oxford who was killed in action, smote Osier to 

 the heart. His son had inherited his father's 

 abilities and character, and shared his literary 

 tastes and his pride in the fine library which had 

 been always the library Gulielmi Osier et ami- 

 corum. This blow to him and Lady Osier was 

 beyond healing ; but last summer, during some 

 fine weeks in Guernsey, he regained much bodily 

 health. A fine swimmer, he drew life from the 

 sea. Unhappily, a little later he was caught 

 by the ruthlessly sudden strike of the railwaymen, 

 and had to travel in an open motor-car from New- 

 castle to Oxford. He reached home chilled and 

 weary, and was attacked by a broncho-pneumonia, 

 which, after many phases and some transient 

 signs of amendment, ended rather unexpectedly 

 in death on December 29. Two days before had 

 arrived in Oxford the "Festschrift," compiled by 

 his friends for his seventieth birthday. This 

 volume, which had been presented in form but 

 delayed in completion, he was never to see ; it is 

 now a monument, one among many, to his 

 memorv. C. A. 



