Leon Obituary Notices of Fellows deceased. 
and of botany, to be studied as the greatest scientific biological subject, and 
no longer to be looked upon as an adjunct to anthropotomy. 
With all these broad-minded philosophical ideas, he would never have 
succeeded to the extent that he did but for his personal influence not only in 
his own circle but in the University at large, which enabled him to establish 
respect for a new study in University circles naturally wedded to older 
studies. In about fifteen years, his and his group’s influence succeeded in ~ 
obtaining University and College recognition in fairly full measure for the 
subject as one on a par with the older studies of the place. 
It is impossible to overestimate Foster’s services to physiology. He was 
the prime mover in bringing together all English workers in physiology by 
the foundation of the ie iraaialloaieall Society. At its origin the Society was 
formed in consequence of the passing of the Vivisection Act in 1876, and was 
simply for the purpose of dining together at stated times with the object of 
interchanging views and keeping watch on the working of the Act; subse- 
quently it was determined that a scientific meeting should precede the dinner, 
and Foster insisted from the very first that such meetings should, as far as 
possible, be demonstrational. 
This gathering together of English physiologists into a society has been of 
enormous benefit to the progress of physiology. Still greater, perhaps, was 
the foundation of the ‘Journal of Physiology. Up to 1878 the only journal, 
apart from the ‘Proceedings of the Royal Society, in which physiological 
papers were published, was the ‘ Journal of Anatomy and Physiology,’ edited 
by Humphry and Turner. The time had come, in Foster’s and in Sanderson’s 
opinion, for a journal devoted exclusively to physiology, and he determined 
to found one. From the very first the journal was run on dignified limes— 
paper, typography, figures, and plates being so good as constantly to excite 
admiration in the United States, in Germany, and other places—a policy 
which certainly for a long period of time involved financial loss. 
The foundation of the ‘Journal of Physiology’ is yet another instance of 
the devotion which Foster inspired in his pupils, for it was the admiration 
which Dew Smith had for him which led him to insist that what Foster 
undertook should be of the best kind, regardless of expense ; Dew Smith 
undertook to bear the financial loss, and he took the Journal under his special 
care as far as plates, illustrations, paper, and printing went. His affection 
for Foster, and his desire in every way to further his interests, led to the 
founding of yet another most valuable aid not only to physiology but to 
science in England generally, viz., the Cambridge Scientific Instrument 
Company. At that time laboratory research was much hampered in England 
by the difficulty of getting any special instrument made for any particular 
research. In Germany the instrument makers were willing to make special 
instruments for which there was not likely to be any further sale, but in 
England it was very much more difficult. The large instrument makers 
looked upon it as a special favour to undertake such an order, and often the 
research was delayed because of the length of time required in making some 
