i68 SIR GEORGE DARWIN 



George's relations with his class have been 

 sympathetically treated by Professor E. W. Brown, ^ 

 than whom no one can speak with more authority, 

 since he was one of my brother's favourite pupils. 

 In the late '70's George began to be appointed 

 to various University Boards and Syndicates. 

 Thus from 1878-82 he was on the Museums and 

 Lecture Rooms Syndicate. In 1879 he was placed 

 on the Observatory Syndicate, of which he became 

 an official member in 1883 on his election to the 

 Plumian Professorship. In the same way he was 

 on the Special Board for Mathematics. He was 

 a member of the Financial Board from 1 900-1 to 

 1903-4, and on the Council of the Senate in 1905-6 

 and 1908-9. But he never became a professional 

 syndic — one of those virtuous persons who spend 

 their lives in University affairs. In his obituary 

 of George {Nature, December 12, 191 2), Sir Joseph 

 Larmor writes : 



In the affairs of the University, of which 

 he was an ornament. Sir George Darwin made 

 a substantial mark, though it cannot be said 

 that he possessed the patience in discussion 

 that is sometimes a necessary condition to 

 taking a share in its administration. But his 

 wide acquaintance and friendships among the 

 statesmen and men of affairs of the time, 

 dating often from undergraduate days, gave 

 him openings for usefulness on a wider plane. 

 Thus, at a time when residents were bewailing 

 even more than usual the inadequacy of the 



* In the second part of the Preface to the fifth volume of Sir 

 G. H. Darwin's Scientific Papers, 1916. 



