vi Obituary Notices of Felloivs deceased. 



As so felicitously expressed by Dr. McVail, on the personal side Power had 

 a rare gift of friendship. His qualifications included a never-failing readiness 

 to appreciate a point of view different from his own, and to throw Ms whole 

 mind into the consideration and discussion of a question which was occupying 

 the other man's thoughts. He used to say that, officially, his brain was a 

 kind of gland through which all sorts of material had to pass for rejection or 

 acceptance and digestion, and his half-amused grumble was that often it had 

 not finished dealing with one substance before another was forcibly thrown 

 into it. But this natural or acquired capacity for considering the most varied 

 problems was always at the service of others, while the value of his help and 

 criticism was enhanced by the remarkable faculty he possessed for mastering 

 the principles and application of sciences which had been non-existent, or in 

 a comparatively elementary stage, during his student days. 



During his tenure of the post of Assistant Medical Officer, to which he 

 was promoted in 1887, it became a well-recognised custom for any of his 

 junior colleagues who might be at the oltice to drop into his room for half-an- 

 hour or so after lunch, when, aided by the soothing influence of tobacco, 

 opportunity was afforded for informal discussion of any points of interest or 

 difficulty in connection with official work. Occasionally the conversation 

 would take on a lighter or more personal tone. 



The recollection of these gatherings and of Power's genial presence, quiet 

 sense of humour, and keen interest in the doings of those who, in public 

 health matters at any rate, were in a very real sense his pupils, will never 

 be likely to fade from the memory of any of those now surviving who were 

 privileged to participate in them. 



In spite of frequent illnesses, due especially to attacks of influenza, he was 

 a tireless worker and, as testified by an intimate friend, even insomnia was 

 utilised as affording time to continue his labours. " The night cometh, when 

 a man can work," was his explanation of how he accomplished so much, and 

 his daily journeys from and to his house in Kent, or later on, in Surrey, were 

 devoted to official papers. Only with the greatest difficulty could he be 

 induced to take a holiday, owing mainly to an impression on his part that he 

 was specially liable to attack by illness of some sort on his return to duty. 

 Yet, as might have been gathered from his fine physique, he was something of 

 an athlete in his youth, excelling in cricket and shooting, as well as in the 

 navigation of a s?iiling yacht, his love for which pastime persisted to his later 

 years. 



Greatly devoted also to the study of Natural History, Power throughout an 

 exceptionally busy life was wont to devote to this subject much of the scanty 

 leisure at his disposal. And there can be little doubt that it was to his 

 knowledge of Natural History that he owed the inspiration which resulted 

 in his initiation of original lines of investigation, more particularly in regard 

 to the possible and probable inter-relationship of disease of man and animals, 

 to which reference has already been made. His special interest, however, lay 

 in the systematic study, so far as available opportunities permitted, of the 



