xvi Obituary Notices of Fellows deceased. 



the phenomena of strychnia tetanus in the ' Proceedings of the Physiological 

 Society' of 1902, is, however, the only publication on the subject, although 

 a large mass of information had been obtained. 



It is only possible within the limits of this notice to allude quite briefly to 

 the many suggestive articles and addresses which are scattered along the 

 years of his scientific activity. They are chiefly related to the consideration 

 of pathological and physiological subjects ; notable ones are the Addresses 

 delivered as Sectional President at the British Association in 1872, 1881, and 

 1889, the Address on the Cellular Pathology of To-day, delivered to the 

 Thirteenth International Medical Congress at Paris in 1900, and the masterly 

 Address, delivered in 1893 at Nottingham, as President of the British 

 Association. Among his pathological articles, probably the most conspicuous 

 is that on " Inflammation," in Holmes' ' System of Surgery/ which, although 

 written early in the seventies, is still accepted as the classical utterance upon 

 this subject. An extensive article of a physiological character was written in 

 1900 for the 'Textbook of Physiology,' on "The Mechanical, Thermal and 

 Electrical Properties of Striped Muscle." 



Viewing his scientific work as a whole, the most remarkable feature which 

 it presents is the breadth of its scope : sanitary science, practical hygiene, 

 medicine, pathology, bacteriology, botany and physiology have all been 

 enriched by his activity. If one of these branches can be selected as having 

 been more particularly illuminated by his genius, the choice must fall on 

 pathology. In this his influence was unique ; he was ahead of all his contem- 

 poraries in this country, both in conception and in method, and by leading 

 his successors into the true path — that of experimental investigation — he 

 endowed English pathology with purpose, and gave this subject, as regards 

 this country, its proper scientific status. His influence upon physiology, 

 although profound, was not of such an epoch-making character; in one 

 respect, however, it has been most marked, and that is in connection with 

 the methods now adopted by all physiological teachers. It has been 

 suggested that Burdon-Sanderson was great as an original investigator rather 

 than as a teacher, but this suggestion is far from being borne out by fact. 

 A great teacher is to be judged by the ability and subsequent eminence of 

 his students and by the radical alterations which he has been able to initiate 

 in teaching methods ; from both these points of view Burdon-Sanderson 

 achieved greatness. His lectures were extraordinarily suggestive, whilst his 

 personality and grace of expression held his audience. But a more solid 

 tribute to his teaching capacity is the change in teaching which he was the 

 first to effect, and which consisted in the introduction into the students' 

 course of practical work and thus of the experimental method. 



As Jodrell Professor in University College, London, he organised classes for 

 the practical study of physiological chemistry and of the phenomena of muscle 

 and nerve. The printed syllabus of the work to be done formed an appendix 

 to the published synopsis of his physiological lectures ; it was the first of its 

 kind, and inaugurated a system of practical instruction which now forms 

 part of the routine work in every University existing in this country. For 



