SCIENCE 



FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1883. 



FRANCIS MAITLAND BALFOUR. 

 About a year ago came the sad news of the 

 sudden death of Professor Balfour of Cam- 

 bridge. If the 

 loss was felt less 

 severely in this 

 countr\- than in 

 England, it was 

 onl3- because he 

 had fewer person- 

 al friends here ; 

 and to fully un- 

 derstand his worth 

 one must have 

 known and talked 

 with him. It is 

 true that it re- 

 quired no unusual 

 insight to read the 

 fine qualities of the 

 man in his writ- 

 ings ; but none 

 save those who 

 knew him could 

 appreciate his re- 

 markable personal 

 attractiveness. 

 Not the least part 

 of the wonderful 

 work of his short 

 life was that 

 which he accom- 

 plished as a teach- 

 er : here as every- 

 where, his person- 

 al influence had a 

 large share ; and 

 a sketch of Bal- 

 four's scientific work would be incomplete 

 without a recognition of the bearing which his 

 noble character had ujwn it. 



The meeting of leading biologists in Octo- 



No. 31.— 1883. 



ber last, to found the Memorial studentship, 

 was remarkable in many ways : rarely have 

 been heard sucii words of admiration and love 

 for one man as were then expressed for Bal- 

 four. Many spoke at length of the debt Cam- 

 bridge owed him. 

 It ma}' be said that 

 he divided with 

 Foster the honor 

 of giving the great 

 iinpelus to the bi- 

 ological movement 

 in tiie PLnglish uni- 

 versities. What 

 Iluxley had done 

 for Foster, the lat- 

 ter did for Bal- 

 four, giving him 

 the first hearty en- 

 couragement and 

 support ; together 

 they raised biolo- 

 gy- from the third 

 to the level of the 

 first rank of stud- 

 ies at Cambridge, 

 equalling that held 

 by mathematics. 

 Oxford soon fol- 

 lowed this impor- 

 tant movement, 

 trying to secure 

 Balfour for the 

 professorship left 

 vacant b}' the 

 death of Rolle- 

 ston. His con- 

 nection ' with nat- 

 ural science at 

 Cambridge was 

 described in warm language by Foster, his 

 teacher, and by Sedgwick, one of his pupils : 

 he advanced mori)hology there l)y his brilliant 

 success in teaching and in research. 



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