Obituary — Kenry Falin Gurney. 95 



Tolnnteer Battalion of the Northumberland Fu&iliers ; he was 

 Warden of the Newcastle Diocesan House of Mercy. 



Notwithstanding the great multiplicity of the duties which fell 

 to him as Principal, and the demands made on his time by the 

 professorship of mathematics which he later combined therewith, 

 Mr. Gurney found it possible to give some attention to the develop- 

 ment of his old subject, the study of crystals. Impressed with the 

 importance of crystallography both as an independent science and 

 as auxiliary to chemistry, physics, mineralogy, and petrology, he 

 equipped the college with apparatus for the measurement of the 

 angles and for the determination of the symmetry and optical 

 characters of crystals, and arranged that opportunity for the 

 acquisition of a theoretical and practical knowledge of the science 

 should be provided for Newcastle students. 



Mr. Gurney received the honorary degree of D.C.L. from the 

 University of Durham ; he was a Fellow of the Geological and 

 Physical Societies, and for several years was a member of the 

 Council of the Mineralogical Society. 



Whenever it was practicable for him, Mr. Gurney sought complete 

 relaxation and change of thought in travel, spending many of his 

 vacations abroad and availing himself of every opportunity of 

 visiting places of general or geological interest both in Europe and 

 America. With the present writer he spent several happy holidays ; 

 on one occasion journeying to Moscow, Nijni Novgorod, and down 

 the Volga to Kazan, afterwards making an excursion with other 

 members of the International Geological Congress to various note- 

 worthy places in Finland; a brief account of the latter he gave 

 in his " Notes on the Geology of Finland." He was an ideal 

 <;ompanion ; full of energy and enthusiasm ; of infinite patience, 

 good temper, and cheerfulness ; indeed, to see his pleasant face 

 and hear his hearty laugh was almost a holiday in itself. Only 

 a few short weeks ago he proposed that they should again spend 

 a few weeks together, this time at Arolla in Switzerland, where 

 he was to go with two of his daughters, but the writer was unable 

 to leave London. Soon afterwards came the startling news of his 

 death. With only a walking-stick in his hand, he had started off 

 alone at 8 a.m. on August 13th, not saying, probably not knowing, 

 how far he was likely to go. Night came and he did not return. 

 Search was immediately begun, and by dusk the next day his 

 footmarks had been discovered on an arete of the Gysa, a southern 

 spur of Mount Koussette; there they ceased. Soon after dawn 

 on the following morning his body was discovered several hundred 

 feet below ; his watch had stopped at nearly 12. Notwith- 

 standing the caution and carefulness which were ever prominent 

 features in his own character, and were strongly impressed by him 

 on others, he had doubtless been gradually led on by the beauty 

 of the view to climb higher and higher, and had eventually and 

 unexpectedly found himself in a place where a slip was easy and 

 would mean instant death. 



His loss will long be felt far and wide, more especially in the 



