Obituary — Sir John Murray. 191 



valley wall a racing stream is usuallj' to be seen, -which erodes both 

 ice and rock. The stream cannot meander away from the valley- wall, 

 for owing to the movement of the glacier the ice is renewed as fast as 

 or faster than it disappears, while the spurs of the hills are open to 

 the continuous attack of tlie water thus trained against them. 

 No doubt this enhanced action of the water has given rise to the 

 seemingly contradictory conclusion (p. 431) " that glaciers have the 

 power of cutting back spurs which is greater than that of water". 



H. T. Ferrar, 

 Geologist to the Discovery Antarctic Expedition. 

 Febrtianj 23, 1914. 



SIR JOHN MURRAY, K.C.B., F.R.S., LL.D., D.Sc, Ph.D. 

 Born March 3, 1841. Died March 16, 1914. 



A FEELING of profound regret was shared by all naturalists and 

 men of science generally at the announcement on March 17 of the 

 sudden death by a motor accident of Sir John Murray, whose name is 

 so intimately associated with the famous Challe7iger explorations, 

 and to whose untiring energy and devotion we are indebted lor the 

 carrying out of the results of the work, a task which, owing to the 

 illness of Sir Wy ville Thomson, fell almost entirely to Sir John Murray. 

 The Challenger sailed in December, 1872, and returned in Mav, 1876, 

 bringing back innumerable pelagic and other organisms new to 

 science. "Writers of eminence in the several departments were 

 engaged, whose labours occupied from 1880 to 1895, resulting in 

 the production of fifty large quarto volumes admirably illustrated by 

 maps, plates, and text-hgures. This fine series of " Challenger 

 lieports", thanks to the efforts of Sir John Murray and the generosity 

 of the British Government, may now be seen and consulted in all the 

 principal libraries and scientific institutions of the world. 



Born at Coburg, Ontario, Canada (March 3, 1841), John Murray 

 was the second son of Robert Mui'ray and his wife Isabel, daughter 

 of the late Thomas Henderson, ship-owner. He was educated at 

 a public school in Canada, then in 1858 at the High School of Stirling, 

 Scotland, and later at Edinburgh University, where he came under the 

 influence of Lord Kelvin, Clerk Maxwell, and Professor Tait. 



Sir John Murray, in addition to his administrative and editorial 

 duties, took an active part in the " Challenger Reports", and 

 contributed two large volumes summarizing the scientific results of 

 the expedition, which occupied twenty-three years of his life. Nor 

 Avas Sir John Murray's work confined to the famous Challenger 

 expedition, for in 1880 and 1882 he took part in the exploration 

 of tlie Faroe Channel in H.M.S. Knight Errant and H.M.S. Triton. 

 He also establislied marine laboratoi'ies on the shores of the Forth at 

 Granton and on tlie Clyde at Millport, Cumbrae. "With his steam 

 yacht Medusa, fitted with all suitable appliances, he made soundings 

 and exploration of numberless locks and straits on the coast of Scotland. 

 (See also his and Mr. Pullar's Bathymetrical Survey of the Scottish 

 Freshwater Locks, 6 vols., 8vo, Edinburgh, 1910.) 



