-\'. / rURE 



[May 1 6, 1895 



the Mesozoic flora of Portugal ; * this work marks an 

 important advance in our knowledge of Lower Cretaceous 

 and Upper Jurassic vegetation ; and of special interest 

 are the various forms of " archetypal angiosperms " closely 

 resembling similar fossils from the Potomac beds of 

 North America. This last monograph, full of elaborate 

 botanical and stratigraphical work, affords a striking 

 proof of the energy and youthful enthusiasm of the 

 veteran student. Saporta"s name will ever be held in 

 r<--spect by succeeding generations as that of a pioneer 

 of palxobotanical science : and by those who were 

 privileged to know him personally, or as a correspondent 

 ever ready to render assistance to younger workers, the 

 death of the Marquis of Saporta must be fedl not merely 

 as the termination of the labours of one of the foremost 

 pakeobotanists, but as the removal of a generous friend 

 and colleague, whose wide knowledge and untiring devo- 

 tion to science will stimulate younger investigators to 

 more vigorous efforts in the rich field of pal<eobotanical 

 study. -A. C. Sew.ard. 



SIR GEORGE BUCHANAN. 



THE death of Sir George Buchanan removes from our 

 midst a leader in that branch of medical science 

 which concerns itself with the prevention of disease. His 

 death came very unexpectedly, for the circumstances of 

 his ill-health were known only to a circle of intimate | 

 friends ; and his great desire to go on working as long as 

 work was practicable, made him sufficiently cheerful to 

 disguise the suffering which he at times experienced. 

 It is some three years since he resigned the post of 

 medical officer to the Local Government Board, this step 

 having been taken by him on account of failing health. 

 But he still found plenty of pleasurable occupation in 

 connection with the various learned and scientific bodies 

 with which he was associated, and he also served on the 

 Koyal Commission on Tuberculosis, of which he became 

 chairman on Lord Basing's death. He was a pupil of 

 L'niversity College, of which body he became a Fellow ; 

 he graduated B.A. and M.D. at the University of London, 

 and at his second M.B. he distinguished himself by carry- 

 ing off several gold medals and scholarships. Later on 

 he became medical officer of health to the district of .St. 

 Giles, where he laboured hard for years to improve the 

 conditions of public health and to amend the then terribly 

 faulty circumstances under which the people lived. It 

 was here that he attracted the attention of .Sir John 

 .Simon, then medical officer of the Privy Council, and 

 under him he served both as a temporary and, later on. as 

 a permanent medical inspector. During this period, and 

 subsequently when he himself directed the public health 

 department of the State, the investigations which he 

 carried out, .ind the reports which he presented to Parlia- 

 ment, embodied the results of work of which England 

 may feel proud. \% a type of the class of work we refer 

 to, we may instance his prolonged investigations into the 

 influence on health of large public works, of water-supply 

 and sewerage, and his discover)' of the lessening of mor- 

 tality from pulmonary consumption where\er the con- 

 struction of sewers had led to a lowering of the sub-soil 

 water. Some of his papers on the subject of vaccination 

 in relation to small-pox are also of the greatest value ; 

 they were the result of most careful labour, as well as of 

 an earnest desire to eliminate all possible sources of 

 error, and to arrive at the truth alone ; and the 

 more he studied the subject, the more convinced he 

 became of the value of vaccination as a measure of 

 public health. He sought to secure for all the work 

 he did or supervised a truly scientific basis ; and 

 he always attached the greatest importance to the 

 auxiliary scientific work for which a special, but only a 

 small, grant is annually made to the medical depart- 



' " KUife fuMJIe du PrTTIugnl (Direction <lc« travaux gtolofliqitc^ (lu 

 I'orlulfal)." I.i«b<jn, i8<m. 



inent of the Local Government Board. He had a 

 marked literary talent, and a conspicuous power of 

 setting out the salient points of the work done by his 

 inspectorial staff; with the result that his annual reports 

 have gradually come into great demand by sanitarians 

 and public health authorities in almost every part of the 

 world. The result of all his labours is by no means accom- 

 plished, in some places work on the lines he has indicated 

 has hardly commenced, and it must almost necessarily be 

 that much that he has taught, will, in the lapse of time, 

 fail to be associated with his name. But those who know 

 the nature of his work, and who appreciate the thorough- 

 ness which always characterised it, will readily understand 

 how far-reaching and beneficial the results must in the end 

 be. In 1882 he was elecled to the Senate of the Univer- 

 sity of London, and in the same year he was made a 

 Fellow of the Koyal .Society ; but otherwise distinctions 

 came to him mainly at the close of his official career. 

 This was doubtless largely due to all absence of self- 

 seeking in his character. .-\s head of a department he 

 was always trjing to promote the welfare of those under 

 him, and it was only when he retired on a comparatixely 

 small pension that he asked for some consideration in 

 view of the long ser\ices he had rendered to the Slate 

 before he gave his whole time to his official duties. But the 

 Treasury gave their usual answer, and he said no more. 

 .At this date he was made a Knight Bachelor, and in 1893 

 he received the honorary degree of LL.D. of the Uni\er- 

 sity of Edinljurgh. He was a past President of the 

 Epidemiological .Society, a Censor of the Royal College 

 of Physicians of London, and he acted as adviser in 

 scientific and other matters to several other bodies. If 

 such a characteristic can be deemed a fault, Sir C.eorge 

 Buchanan's most prominent failing was an inability to 

 conceal his sense of those who, as he thought, sacrificed 

 principles and, at times, the truth itself in matters re- 

 lating to the advancement of public health, for pur- 

 poses of notoriety or of policy. But, on the other hand, 

 no chief of a public department ever won the affection 

 as well as the esteem of his staff better than Sir George 

 Buchanan did ; and he made it no secret that in regard 

 to this he was always desirous to recall the example of 

 his own former chief, who, happily, still lives, and to 

 whom he was devotedly attached. 



NOTES. 



Our readers will l>e glad to know that Prof. Huxley conlinucs 



to improve in hcillh. .\ telegram received from Ea-stbourno a.s 



' we go to press states that he is progressing fa\ourably, and is 



I able to get iii> daily, but is hardly strong enough yet to leave his 



room. 



TilK Hill, which was introduced into the House of Lords on 



Thursday last by Ijird I'layfair, on behalf of the Government, 



may be fairly said to bring the reconstruction of the University 



I of I^ndon on the lines of the Gresham Commissioners' 



I Keixjrl within the sphere of practical politics. The exact terms of 



I the Bill have not yet tran.spired, but it is understood that the four 



Commissioners appointed to administer the .-Vet arc, in the first 



place, empowered to make iiuwlifications in the scheme if deemed 



1 expedient after consultation with the Senate and Convocation of 



I the University of London, and other Utdies affected ; and in the 



1 second, enjoined to adequately sifeguard the interests of the 



I external or non-collcgiale students. The Government having at 



last taken action on this questitm, it is the more satisfactory to 



note that the attempt made in Convocatiim on Tuesday last to 



I rescind the resolutions passe.l at the January meeting (vol. li. 



I p. 298), has conqiletely failed, a resolution to the effect that "if 



a local Teaching University for London be desirable, it ought to 



be constituted apart from the existing University of London," 



iK-ing rejected by 238 against 117, <«r by a majoiily of 121 votes. 



NO. 1333, VOL. 52] 



