388 Rev. Professor T. G. Bonneij, D.Sc, F.R.S. 



day. In this self-devotion Bonney was perhaps too careless of 

 advancing his own reputation ; the Long Vacations were spent in 

 investigation and research, but Term left little or no time to prepare 

 the results for publication, and hence his fame fell behind his merits. 

 This was unfortunate ; it injuriously affected his claims when he stood 

 for election to Sedgwick's Chair, and he was defeated by 6 votes. 

 The range of his teaching was very wide ; even in those early days 

 he had recognized the ' one in the many ' of earth-knowledge, and 

 while on one occasion he would describe in detail the structure 

 of a single mountain, on another he would treat undauntedly of 

 the earth as a whole. Physical Geography was taught in a way 

 to convince students that, if they wished to become geologists, they 

 must also be meteorologists, hydrographers, and geographers as 

 well ; but Cosmogony was by no means banned, and some knowledge 

 of Astronomy was essential, so that unless they exercised great 

 care his students might find themselves unexpectedly knocking 

 their heads against the problem of the ' three bodies.' Palaeontology 

 was the subject of a course, and in 1873 one on Petrography, 

 practically illustrated by the microscope, was added. This was 

 among the first courses of systematic teaching in modern Petrography 

 given in the British Isles, probably the very first. From it Teall 

 and Sollas (not to mention others) gained their first insight into this 

 branch of Geology. A list of those who attended the general course 

 on Geology would be interesting reading, but without it the names 

 of J. E. Marr, A. Strahan, Jukes-Browne, Clough, W. W. Watts, 

 K. D. Eoberts, Milnes-Marshall, P. H. Carpenter, and F. M. Balfour 

 may be recalled, as well as those first mentioned. F. M. Balfour 

 will be best known as the bright particular star of the Biological 

 School, but his interest in Geology at that time is shown by a clever 

 paper written in conjunction with his cousin, Gerald Balfour (late 

 Chief Secretary of State for Ireland), to explain the downward dip 

 of the beds surrounding a volcanic neck. 



The thoughts of an old student often wander fondly to those 

 early days spent under Professor Bonney's paternal care. Let us 

 set out on one of those reminiscent journeys. Here is the bold 

 portal of St. John's ; we turn in, cross the first quad, and enter that 

 beautiful second court, so justly praised by John Euskin ; in the 

 middle of the left-hand side is an entrance which leads to a narrow 

 staircase, and on the first landing we read over a door, in white 

 letters on a black ground, Eev. T. G. Bonney. We knock 

 and pass into the outer room, furnished in the austere beauty of 

 ancient oak ; a massive lecture-table stands in the middle, and at 

 the nearer end is a bookcase full of white-vellum covered volumes 

 containing presentation copies of scientific pamphlets. This is the 

 lecture-room, and somehow it impresses us; there is a feeling as of 

 an ancient University in the air, and when the tall spare figure of 

 the Tutor approaches to welcome us we seem to realize an idea 

 already formed in the mind as an expression of the genius loci. He 

 leads us through a door at the other end into his private sanctum, 

 a bright and cheerful chamber, the walls lined with books, except 



