July i, 1909] 



NA TORE 



15 



c.'ipacity, even if it does no more than nn nrithmonieter, 

 he will, by demonstrating its practicability and advan- 

 tages, be more likely to be enabled to proceed step 

 by step to the more perfect instrument than he will 

 if, as Babbage did, he imagines his whole machine at 

 once. In the writer's opinion, the ingenuity required 

 to arrange a complete analytical engine is really in 

 great part misplaced. Such a machine can only be 

 used and kept in order by someone who really under- 

 stands it, and it would seem to the writer of this 

 notice more practicable to allow the user's attention 

 to replace the action of operation, cards, and leave to 

 the machine the more direct numerical evaluations. 



C. V. Boys. 



PROF. D. J. CUNNINGHAM. F.R.S. 



THE death of this eminent anatomist occurred on 

 Wednesday of last week, June 23. It was 

 known that Prof. Cunningham h;id been ill for several 

 months, but the fatal nature of the illness was not 

 at first recognised, and the news of his untimely death 

 in the full vigour of his powers will have come as 

 a shock to many of his friends, and their name is 

 legion. 



Daniel John Cunningham was born in .April, 1850, 

 at Crieff, where his distinguished father, who was 

 later to become principal of St. Andrew's University, 

 was then the minister. His school days were passed 

 at Crieff .\cademy. At the age of seventeen he was 

 sent to Edinburgh University, and began the study 

 of medicine. Here he had a brilliant career as a 

 student, and in 1874 took his M.B. degree with first- 

 class honours. In 1876 he proceeded to the M.D. 

 degree, the subject of his thesis being " The .Anatomy 

 of the Cetacea " ; for this he was awarded a gold 

 medal. His work on this subject was performed in 

 the anatomical department of the university, where 

 he was acting as assistant demonstrator to Prof. 

 Turner; the influence of the master is apparent in 

 the work of the pupil. 



In 1876 Cunningham became principal demonstrator 

 of anatomy, a position of much responsibility, as well 

 as of great advantage to the holder from the experi- 

 ence in anatomical work and in teaching which it 

 offers. Of this experience he took full advantage, and 

 his high qualifications were recognised when he was 

 appointed in 1882 to the chair of anatomy in the Royal 

 College of Surgeons in Dublin. This appointment was 

 not long held by him, for in the following year his 

 services were transferred to the much more important 

 chair of anatomy in Trinity College. Here he re- 

 mained until 1903, when, on the retirement of Sir 

 William Turner from the professorship of anatomy in 

 the University of Edinburgh, it was felt that there 

 was only one man worthy to succeed him, and the 

 invitation which was tendered to him by the Curators 

 of Patronage was, not without some hesitancy, ac- 

 cepted by him. 



The hesitancy — even in view of the higher emolu- 

 ment and larger sphere of usefulness which the a|)- 

 pointmcnt to his .Alma Mater involved — is not difficult 

 to understand. For Cunningham had endeared him- 

 self to Dublin by many close ties ; he was the centre 

 of a large circle of intimate friends, and his influence 

 and interests were in no way confined within the walls 

 of the university, but extended to all circles of society. 

 For several years he acted as secretary, and for some 

 time as president, to the Royal Zoological Society of 

 Ireland, and the effect of his work is apparent in the 

 splendid condition of their menagerie, which is, for 

 its size, probably the most successful in Europe. He 

 was a constant attendant at the famous Saturday 

 morning breakfasts of the council, and on leaving 

 NO. 2070, VOL. 81] 



Dublin for Edinburgh was the recipient of a silver 

 bowl engraved with the signatures of his fellow- 

 members, a testimonial which he prized with pleasur- 

 able pride. During four years he was honorary secre- 

 tary to the Royal Dublin Society. He was frequently 

 consulted on scientific questions by the Viceregal 

 Government, who in 1900 appointed him a member 

 of the commission to inquiry into the condition of 

 the inland fisheries of Ireland. In the same year he 

 was sent out to South Africa as a member of the 

 Royal Commission to inquire into the care of the 

 sick and wounded in the war. He also served on a 

 War Office committee to report on the physical 

 standards required for candidates for commissions and 

 recruits. 



But the performance of these public duties was not 

 allowed to interfere with his scientific work. Both 

 before and after his appointment to Dublin his com- 

 munications on anatomical subjects were numerous 

 and important. His te.xt-books on " Practical 

 .Anatomy " and on " Systematic .Anatomy " — the latter 

 edited and in part written by himself — have a large 

 circulation. His " Memoir on Cornelius McGrath, the 

 Irish Giant," which was published by the Royal Irish 

 .Academy in 189 1, is a model of exact anatomical de- 

 scription, and was influential in pointing to the analo- 

 gies between the conditions of gigantism and those 

 met with in acromegaly, a disease to which attention 

 had shortly before been directed by Marie, who was 

 the first to associate it with tumour of the pituitary 

 body. No less important is his " Memoir on the 

 Surface Anatomy of the Cerebral Hemispheres," which 

 was published in 1892. In 1902 he delivered the 

 Huxley memorial lecture before the Anthropological 

 Institute, the subject of the lecture being " Right- 

 handedness and Left-brainedness." 



On his transference to Edinburgh in 1903, Cun- 

 ningham's activities were in no way diminished, and 

 his infiuence was immediately felt both in the uni- 

 versity and in scientific and medical circles of the city. 

 His genial personality at once won the hearts of the 

 students, who were no less attracted by his powers 

 of exposition. The confidence of his colleagues was 

 manifested by his early election to fill the position of 

 dean of the faculty of medicine. This confidence 

 proved well-merited, for, under his auspices, the scheme 

 of reform of the medical curriculum which had been 

 for years in a condition of suspended animation was 

 re-invigorated, and before long passed through all its 

 stages, which in a Scotch university are more complex 

 and difficult than those of a Bill in Parliament. As 

 a member of the council and as secretary of the meet- 

 ings, he took an active part in the work of the Royal 

 Society of Edinburgh, and was instrumental in im- 

 proving the form and character of its published Pro- 

 ceedings. He effected a similar change in the Journal 

 of Anatomv and Physiology, of which he became acting 

 editor, and to which he had always, either personally 

 or through his pupils, been in the habit of contributing 

 articles. He continued to take a keen interest in the 

 public services, and was prominent in the movement 

 for the establishment of a medical equipment of the 

 Territorial Force in the East of Scotland. 



Cunningham's eminence in science has been recog- 

 nised on many occasions. He was elected in 1891 to 

 the Fellowship' of the Royal Society, and in 1898 served 

 on its council. The Uiiiversities of Dublin, Oxford, 

 St. Andrews, and Glasgow conferred upon him their 

 honorary degrees. He was president of the Ana- 

 tomical "Society and of the anthropological section of 

 the British Association, and at various times was 

 examiner in most of the universities of the United 

 Kingdom. 



Of Cunningham's personal character it is impossible 



