578 



NATURE 



[October 13, 1898 



typhoid fever, Sir James emphasised the benefit which 

 would accrue to mankind from the use of these remedies. 



Dr. Robert Saunby dehvered an opening address at 

 the Medical School of University College, Cardiff, on 

 modern universities. The lecturer deplored the con- 

 dition of university education in England so far as 

 concerns medicine, and pointed to what was done by 

 the State in Germany and France. This theme has 

 been often dwelt upon, and not without effect. England 

 is now waking up to the value of technical education, of 

 creating places where men can pursue those studies 

 which are to form their stock-in-trade for life. 



The address at the Yorkshire College, Leeds, was 

 given by Dr. Cullingworth upon the importance of 

 personal character in the profession of medicine. The 

 author referred to an interesting article by Sir James 

 Paget on the result of an inquiry of what became of 

 1000 of his pupils fifteen years after their entry at St. 

 Bartholomew's. This showed that 9 per cent, died with- 

 in twelve years of their commencing practice, and forty- 

 one, or about 4*5 per cent., during their pupilage, fifty- 

 six failed entirely, the remainder were successful in all 

 degrees varying from distinguished success to very 

 limited success. This, on the whole, is not a bad aver- 

 age, and if it was possible to the medical student of 

 1870, more is possible and probable to the medical 

 student of to-day. 



From the above brief extracts it will be seen with what 

 varied advice and dissertations the recruits of the medical 

 profession have been introduced to their life study. The 

 practitioner and advanced student, rendered more cynical, 

 perhaps, by contact with his fellows, will be inclined, and 

 possibly not altogether wrongly, to recall the words of 

 Mephistopheles to the would-be medical student in 

 Faust, and abide by them : — 



The trade of medicine's easiest of all. 

 'Tis but to study all things — everywhere 

 Nature and man — the great world and the small. 

 Then leave them at haphazard still to fare. 



F. W. TUNNICLIFFE. 



SURGEON-MAJOR J. E. T. AITCHISON, 

 M.D., CLE., F.R.S. 



BOTANY has lost another of its devotees. Dr. 

 Aitchison died at Kew on the 30th ult., at the age 

 of sixty-three, after two or three years of bad health, con- 

 sequent on a weak heart and other complications. He 

 was a man of fine physique, and of a genial and happy 

 disposition. The son of Major J. Aitchison, H.E.I.C.S., 

 he was born in India in 1835. After successfully studying 

 medicine and surgery at Edinburgh, he entered the 

 Bengal medical service in 1858, and remained in it for 

 thirty years. But it was as a botanical explorer and an 

 investigator of the vegetable products of the various 

 countries he visited that he was known in the scientific 

 world. Enthusiastic, enterprising, and persevering in no 

 ordinary degree, he succeeded in forming valuable 

 botanical collections under difficulties that would have 

 discouraged and prevented many men. Science is 

 primarily indebted to him for collecting plants and their 

 products and local information concerning them. In 

 these investigations he was indefatigable ; and he had a 

 rich field for his labours in North-west India, Afghan- 

 istan, Baluchistan, Persia, and Russian Turkestan. He 

 seems to have been led to botanical pursuits by the study 

 of Indian drugs, as in tracing their origin he became 

 familiar with vegetable organography, and acquired a 

 love for plants which he retained to the last. Indeed, 

 he settled at Kew in order to be able to continue 

 his studies. His first contribution (1863) to botanical 



NO. 151 I, VOL. 58] 



literature was an enumeration of the plants of the 

 Jhelum district of the Punjab, with notes on their pro- 

 ducts and distribution. It was in this paper that he 

 published the only new species, I believe, that he ever 

 described independently. For the many novelties he 

 subsequently discovered he always called in professional 

 aid, being too modest and too anxious for accuracy to 

 attempt it alone. 



Subsequently, in 1869, he published a catalogue of the 

 plants of the Punjab and Sindh, which, however, was a 

 good deal more than a catalogue. This was followed by 

 a lengthy paper on the flora and vegetable products of 

 Lahul, a " Handbook " on the trade products of Leh, and a 

 number of smaller contributions to botanical literature. 

 But his great harvest was made in Afghanistan and the 

 surrounding countries. In the winter of 1878, he accom- 

 panied the troops under General (now Sir Frederick) 

 Roberts into the Kuram Valley, and the following year 

 was appointed botanist to the expedition. A collection 

 of some 15,000 specimens of dried plants was made 

 between Thai and Peiwarkotal, at elevations of 2500 to 

 15,000 feet. A further collection was made in 1880 in the 

 same country; and in 1884 he was appointed naturalist 

 to the Afghan Delimitation Commission. This was even 

 more fruitful than the previous expeditions, yielding about 

 800 species, represented by 10,000 specimens. But Dr. 

 Aitchison not only collected specimens ; he also collected 

 a large amount of local information concerning them. 

 These immense collections were worked out at Kew, and 

 the results published in Xht Journal and Transactions of 

 the Linnean Society. The papers are prefaced by 

 admirable descriptions of the vegetation and local con- 

 ditions of the districts traversed. Apart from the plants 

 collected by William Griffith during the first Afghan war 

 (1839-40), Kew possessed very little from this interesting 

 region ; hence Aitchison greatly enriched the herbarium 

 and museum. In addition to the papers mentioned, he 

 wrote a number of articles on the medicinal and other 

 vegetable products of commercial value. I had almost 

 forgotten to mention that he also collected zoological 

 specimens. 



Personally Dr. Aitchison was of a most amiable and 

 kind-hearted disposition, and this, combined with his fine 

 presence, tact and medical knowledge, enabled him to mix 

 with the natives with impunity, and obtain information 

 that others could not. One of the first things he did on 

 arriving at a place was to treat the sick, and his reputation 

 preceded him, so that he was often approached and be- 

 sought for aid. In 1883 he was created a Companion of 

 the Order of the Indian Empire, and in the same year he 

 was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London. 

 Unfortunately the last year of his life was saddened by the 

 loss of his wife, to whom he had been deeply attached. 



He was occupied during the last two years in preparing 

 a Flora Indice Deserta, to include the plants of North- 

 western India, Baluchistan, and Afghanistan, but his 

 ailments prevented him from doing more than collect 

 materials. It is not possible to find at once an equally 

 qualified person to carry this idea into effect. 



Though Aitchison was little in society during the last 

 four or five years, there are many who will feel the loss 

 of one who was such a cheerful companion and warm 

 friend. W, Botting Hemsley. 



CONFERENCE ON THE INTERNATIONAL 

 CATALOGUE OF SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE. 



AT the Royal Society on Monday evening, the 

 President and Council held a reception to meet the 

 delegates attending the international conference upon 

 an international catalogue of scientific literature. The 

 conference began on Monday, and practically all 



