KNIGHT: OBITUARY NOTICE OF A. SOMERVILLE. I17 



scientific precision, the locality, depth in fathoms, and nature of the 

 bottom, being always added to the name of the shell. It is to be 

 regretted that very few of these carefully drawn-up lists have ever 

 been made accessible in any scientific journal, but the present writer 

 into whose hands they (and most of the shells obtained by him) have 

 come, has the intention, at no distant date, of doing justice to his 

 uncle's widespread research by publishing these records. 



Already a Fellow of the Linnean Society (1881), Mr. Somerville in 

 1886 compiled a "List of British Marine Shells, comprising those of 

 the Brachiopoda and Mollusca (Proper) after the arrangement in 

 Jeffreys' British Corichology, with Alterations and Additions to 1885," 

 which was most favourably received, and for years was a standard 

 authority. On March 4th, 1886, he was elected a member of this 

 Society ; on December gth of the same year he was appointed one of 

 the three referees for British Marine Mollusca under the Council's 

 scheme for the nomenclature and identification of shells ; on 

 December 20th, 1890, he was elected a Vice-President; and on 

 October 27th, 1900, he was chosen to be President. In the twenty- 

 one years during which he was a member of this Society, Mr. 

 Somerville contributed much to its help, his delight being to secure 

 new members, to send specimens for exhibition, and in every way to 

 foster its interests. The following papers were read by him to the 

 Society : — " Trophoti truncatus (Strom) var. scalaris Jeff, on the West 

 of Scotland" (/ of C, v. (1888), p. 319), and "The Conchology of 

 the Clyde : Geographical and Biological," Presidential Address 

 (/• of C, X. (1902), p. 138). 



In his native city Mr. Somerville was a recognised leader in 

 scientific research. He was successively Secretary, Editor, Vice- 

 President, and President of the Natural History Society of Glasgow, 

 and contributed many communications to that institution. A life- 

 member of the Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow, he was also 

 one of the founders, and an ardent supporter of the marine station 

 at Keppel Pier, Millport, which now has enlarged its sphere of use- 

 fulness as the '•' Marine Biological Association of the West of 

 Scotland." In the recent Scottish Antarctic Expedition, under Dr. 

 W. S. Bruce, he took a keen interest, and helped considerably 

 towards obtaining support for that national enterprise. He main- 

 tained correspondence with many of the leading scientists of Britain,and 

 as his letters were charming and thoroughly illustrative of the writer's 

 open and buoyant nature, his communications were much prized. 



In later years his enthusiasm turned towards botanical research. 

 Indefatigably exploring the less-worked parts of his native land, he 

 made his herbarium one of the richest in Scotland. For several years 



