xxxiv Obituary Notices of Fellows deceased. 



In the case of Howes, his ungrudging readiness to serve was mated with an 

 ambition to serve supremely well. It may seem unworthy to describe this 

 noble eagerness as containing in itself the element of worry, and yet one can 

 scarcely help believing that, as a result of too continuous effort, the brain 

 at last gave way beneath the strain of its own restless activity. Early in 

 1903 his health broke down, and without any substantial recovery in the 

 interval, he died on the 4th of February, 1905, in the fifty-second year of his 

 age. He leaves a widow and daughter, colleagues, distinguished pupils, and 

 many other warm friends, to deplore his loss. He was a man of religious 

 temper, cheerful, affectionate, generous. As already explained, the energy of 

 his life was given to science, but not to a lucrative branch of it. Had his 

 life been prolonged, he might have secured fame by authorship ; as it is, his 

 reputation must largely rest on those whom he successfully trained in his 

 lecture-room and laboratory, and who gratefully acknowledge the debt they 

 owe to his wide learning, his skill as a teacher, his inspiring energy. There 

 can be little doubt that he long rejoiced in the prodigal expenditure of his 

 great powers, but in the concluding words of a stirring address, which he 

 delivered in 1900, we may fancy a touch of prophetic pathos and self-allusion 

 when he says, " Higher ambition than that of adding to the sum of knowledge 

 no man can have ; wealth, influence, position, all fade before it ; but we must 

 die for it if our work is to live after us." 



T. E. K. S. 



