122 SCIENTIFIC SURVEY OF ABERDEEN AND DISTRICT 
in 1776. His youngest son John studied medicine in Aberdeen from 
1773 to 1777, but, as far as is known, neither he nor any other member of 
Ferguson’s family achieved distinction in any walk of life. 
CLERK MAXWELL, JAMES.—Maxwell’s association with Aberdeen dates 
from 1856, when as a young Cambridge graduate he was appointed to 
the Chair of Natural Philosophy in Marischal College, a position he held 
until the fusion of the two colleges in 1860. 
Lamont, JoHN.—As the wonderful career of Johann von Lamont is 
being made the subject of a separate paper nothing more of a biographical 
nature need be said here than that, born in Braemar in 1805, and starting 
life as a schoolboy in the tiny hamlet of Inverey, this remarkable man 
eventually became a Professor of Astronomy in Munich Observatory in 
1852, and died in 1879, full of academic honours and one of the foremost 
astronomers in Europe. 
In the domain of pure astronomy Lamont’s name is chiefly associated 
with observations on the satellites of Uranus, the main object of which 
was to find their elongation so as to determine the mass of the planet. 
In the course of his investigations in 1837 he observed the most distant 
of the six satellites, the only verification hitherto obtained of Sir William 
Herschel’s observations regarding the existence of satellites other than 
those discovered by him in 1787. But Lamont’s most extensive work 
was in the department of terrestrial magnetism, where he was one of the 
pioneers and one of the most enthusiastic investigators. ‘The connection 
between sun-spot periods and magnetic disturbances is one of his dis- 
coveries. In 1840 it was determined to form an international scheme for 
magnetic observations, and Lamont’s previous experience and organising 
ability proved invaluable in putting the project into working order. He 
himself devoted great attention to the surveys of Northern Germany and 
South-West Europe, the results of which are embodied in two extensive 
memoirs. In addition to these, he was the author of very many papers 
on terrestrial magnetism and astronomy contributed to scientific societies 
in Britain and in Germany. 
GiLL, Sir Davip.—This celebrated astronomer was born in Aberdeen 
on June 12, 1843. His father was the head of a firm of watchmakers 
which had their headquarters in Aberdeen for several generations. 
David Gill received his school education at Dollar Academy, later pro- 
ceeding to Aberdeen University. He read mathematics with David 
Rennet, the renowned Aberdeen teacher, the ‘ extramural professor ’ 
who has several wranglers to his credit. In natural philosophy Gill 
attended the lectures of Prof. David Thomson at King’s College and of 
Prof. Clerk Maxwell at Marischal. The latter a few years afterwards 
referred to Gill as one of.the ablest students he had through his hands in 
Aberdeen. After a year spent at Besangon in learning the art of clock- 
making, he returned to Aberdeen to take an active part in the conduct 
of the family business, his sense of duty to his father and the family 
causing him to sacrifice his natural inclination towards science and 
astronomy. But he did not regret the time so spent. The workshop 
practice he gained in his youth gave him skill in devising astronomical 
