xm 



of the Red Corpuscles of the Blood and on the Process of Arterialisa- 

 tion." His theory was that the venous blood contained phosphorus in 

 combination with fat, and that an oxidation took place, and the phos- 

 phoric acid united with the alkali of the blood, producing a tribasic 

 phosphate of soda. This caused the bright colour of arterial blood. 



Rees also wrote a little book on calculous diseases. This con- 

 sisted mainly of the Croonian Lectures given at the College of 

 Physicians in the year 1856. In the ' Guy's Hospital Reports ' various 

 papers will be found on chemical analysis of animal fluids. Owen 

 Rees, in many instances, joined Dr. Alfred Taylor in his criminal 

 investigations, notably in the case of Palmer, who was tried for the 

 murder of Cook by strychnia in the year 1856. He also assisted Sir 

 B. Brodie in his analysis of urinary calculi, and it was owing to this 

 surgeon's influence that Dr. Rees gained the appointment of Physician 

 to the new Pentonville Prison. 



Dr. Owen Rees was appointed Assistant-Physician at Guy's Hospital 

 in the year 1843, and full Physician in 1856. In 1873 he resigned, 

 and was appointed Consulting Physician. He was a particular friend 

 of Dr. Roget, who presented the papers spoken of to the Royal 

 Society, of which Dr. Roget was then Secretary. It was soon after- 

 wards, in the year 1843, that he was made a Fellow. 



Dr. Rees was in practice first in Cork Street and afterwards in 

 Albemarle Street. His clients were amongst the better classes, and 

 usually sufferers from kidney disease or gout, for the treatment of 

 which disorders he had gained considerable repute. Personally, he 

 was a small, lithe, active man, ready and sociable, so that he was a 

 well-known member at the Athenaeum and many convivial clubs. 

 He was very quaint and humorous in his stories, so that his company 

 was much sought after. He was, in his latter days, made Physician 

 Extraordinary to the Queen. In the beginning of 1886 he was seized 

 with a paralytic stroke, but although he partly recovered he never 

 did much work afterwards. On May 27th, 1889, he had another 

 seizure, which proved fatal, and he was buried in Abney Park Cemetery, 

 aged 76 years. S. W. 



■ Sir Charles James Fox Bunbury, Bart., was born at Messina, in 

 Sicily, February 4th, 1809, where his father, General Sir Henry 

 Bunbury, was at that time Quartermaster-General. His mother was 

 a daughter of General Fox, then commanding in the Mediterranean, 

 and a niece of the celebrated statesman. To these gifted parents 

 Sir Charles owed his early love and his knowledge of arts, literature, 

 and science, and especially of natural history, accomplishments 

 which he cultivated throughout life with disinterested zeal ; and 

 thanks to his extraordinary memory, his accuracy was as remarkable 

 as were the extent and variety of his information. 



vol. xlyi. d 



