82 



A'A TURE 



1901 



On the steamship expeditions sent out by the Canadian 

 Government to Hudson Strait and Bay, Dr. Bell not only 

 acted as geologist and naturalist, but on the Neptune and 

 Alert expeditions as medical officer as well. 



The above is only a brief outline of the places Dr. Bell 

 has visited and the work he has done, for no mention has 

 been made of the time he has spent at the Great Slave 

 Lake. This lake is 300 miles long and is a distance of 

 3000 miles from Ottawa, so no small journey ! For the 

 past few years, however, it has been possible to go a great 

 part of the way by train and steamer. Here attention 

 may be drawn to the fact that the work on the prairies 

 and plains was accomplished before any treaties had been 

 made with the Indians, and before the organisation of 

 the mounted police. In those days, that part of the 

 country was scarcely, if at all, settled, e.xcept further 

 north, where it was practically only known to the Hud- 

 son's Bay Company's people. The buffalo was very 

 plentiful then, and it maybe surmised that the adventures 

 of Dr. Bell were many and e.xciting. Taking into account 

 all the discomfort from exposure and fatigue, the want of 

 food, and the usual hardships connected with exploring, 

 we may safely say that in the forty-four years of Dr. 

 Bell's annual expeditions, he has had more adventures, 

 more experiences of every description, and seen more of 

 the fauna and flora of North America than any other 

 white man living, besides having been brought into close 

 contact with the real wild Indians, the Eskimos and the 

 Hudson's Bay Company's people, and thus getting a 

 thorough insight into their manners and customs. 



During this time not only has he made geological, geo- 

 graphical and topographical surveys, but has collected a 

 great quantity of zoological and botanical specimens, 

 taken many photographs of these far-away parts, and 

 made observations in a great many varied directions, 

 greatly interesting himself in the folk-lore of the Indian 

 tribes and the Eskimos. Dr. Bell has been called by 

 Mr. George Johnson, the official Dominion .Statistician, 

 "the place-name father of Canada," for as his work has 

 been so much in unknown parts he has had to give a 

 great number of names. 



In spite of the exposure and hardships he has had to 

 experience. Dr. Bell is in perfect health and as keen and 

 untiring about work as ever. He attributes his health to 

 the care he has always taken of himself when camping 

 out, always endeavouring to have a dry comfortable bed 

 of brush or some substitute every night, trying to be as 

 short a time as possible in wet clothes and missing as 

 few meals as he could. It has been his habit to " live off 

 the country and to go light," therefore he never carried 

 any camp equipments. His food was of the simplest, 

 being the same as that of the voyageur, with fish and 

 game when it was to be had and with no alcoholic 

 drinks. 



Dr. Bell is of a very quiet and retiring disposition and 

 has kept himself so much in the background that few 

 know of the vast extent of his work. He has been the 

 means of immense areas being mapped and divided into 

 territories and provinces, and when we try to realise the 

 greatness of Canada, the sizes of the rivers, lakes and 

 plains which have been surveyed by him, the extent of land 

 which this one man has journeyed over, we are amazed at 

 the greatness of the work accomplished. He has pub- 

 lished about 190 reports on various scientific subjects, 

 but, except for short accounts like that written by Mr. 

 Hallock, no record has been published of all his explora- 

 tions, for, although often asked, Dr. Bell has never given 

 a detailed account of his travels or attempted to extend 

 and publish his own notes, probably owing to pressure of 

 work and his natural reticence. 



We are very grateful to Mr. Hallock for giving us an 

 insight into what Dr. Bell has done, and wish Dr. Bell 

 much success in his position as director of the Canadian 

 'Geological Survey. 



NO. 1647, VOL. 64] 



SIR COURTENAY BOYLE, K.C.B. 



TDY the death of Sir Courtenay Boyle, K.C.B., which 

 ^ took place very suddenly on Sunday last, the coun- 

 try has lost a distinguished public servant and science a 

 very warm friend and powerful supporter. 



He was born in 1845, a"d educated at Charterhouse 

 and Christ Church. At Oxford he became a noted 

 cricketer, playing for the University from 1865 to 1867. 

 In 186S he began his official life as private secretary to 

 Lord Spencer, then \'iceroy of Ireland, an office which 

 he held a second time from 1868-1873. After serving for 

 twelve years as a Local Government Board inspector, in 

 1886 he entered the Board of Trade as assistant secre- 

 tary in the Railway Department, in succession to Sir H. 

 Calcraft, who had become permanent secretary to the 

 Board. In 1893, when Sir H. Calcraft retired. Sir 

 Courtenay Boyle, who a year previously had been 

 made K.C.B., succeeded him as permanent secretary. 

 For the past fifteen years he was intimately connected 

 with legislation of the most important character. As 

 assistant secretary he was responsible, along with Lord 

 Balfour, for revising the rates and charges of the railway 

 companies of the United Kingdom. The consolidation 

 of the statutes relating to merchant shipping was his 

 work, and he had much to do with the Conciliation Act 

 of 1896. 



But it was in connection with legislation to regulate the 

 supply of electricity for light and power that he was first 

 brought closely into relation with physical science. The 

 position of the electric industries has changed enormously 

 since 1886 ; earlier legislation had, in many respects, 

 been hostile to their growth. Sir Courtenay's efforts were 

 all in favour of progress, and even those who think that 

 in some respects the progress might have been greater 

 will admit that the difficulties to be overcome were con- 

 siderable, and that the permanent secretary was always 

 ready to give any reasonable suggestion a fair and cour- 

 teous consideration. Those who in 1890-91 served with him 

 on the committee which formulated the legal definitions 

 of the ohm, the ampere and the volt, can testify to his 

 care and skill ; he was excellent in the chair, possibly 

 in consequence of the fact that he made no claim to be 

 considered an expert on the subject under discussion, 

 but brought a trained business intellect to bear on the 

 problem of putting into a practical form the results of 

 scientific inquiries. 



Nor were his sympathies confined to the applications 

 of science. In the recent somewhat acute controversies 

 respecting the magnetic observatories and electric trac- 

 tion, he made it clear to all that he appreciated the 

 importance of a scientific investigation which for the 

 present does not promise direct practical applications ; 

 and the satisfactory solution of the difficulty is due in 

 great measure to his tact and patience. 



His connection with the National Physical Laboratory 

 was most close and intimate. He was a member ot 

 Lord Rayleigh's Committee, and took part in the dis- 

 cussions which led up to the foundation of the Laboratory. 

 As permanent secretary of the Board of Trade he was 

 an ex-officio member of the General Board and Executive 

 Committee ; he also served on the Finance Committee 

 and various subcommittees, and at all of these he was a 

 most regular and useful attendant. In Lord Rayleigh's 

 absence he usually acted as chairman, and in that 

 position showed a very thorough grasp of the details of 

 the work. 



In the difficult discussions which arose as to the site 

 of the Laboratory, his counsel and support were of the 

 highest value ; he gave his time freely to the work he 

 had undertaken, and was always ready to discuss fully 

 with the officers of the Royal Society, or the director, the 

 proper course to follow. 



He had formed high hopes of the position which the 



