Sir David Gill 
221 
Towards the close of the year he suffered frequently from colds, but 
his friends were not unduly alarmed. 
On Monday, December 11th, at the close of the day, he complained of 
deafness, and he seemed worried about it. However, next day he was 
able to go to the usual monthly meeting of the Eoyal Astronomical Society. 
It was at this meeting that he handed over to the Society the photograph 
of the moon which he had given to Sir W. Huggins in 1868, nearly half 
a century agone. Of the notable galaxy of astronomers who had made 
that day great, Airy, Hind, Huggins, Main, Stone, Adams, he alone was 
left, the last of the Eomans. And he too, unconsciously, in his handing 
over for posterity the first-fruits of his long and full life, was bidding 
goodbye to the field that by his service he had adorned. 
When he went home from the meeting of the Eoyal Astronomical 
Society he again complained of great deafness, stating that he had con- 
siderable difficulty in hearing what was said at the meeting. Next day 
he went to see his doctor, who attended to his ears, after which he 
seemed to hear better, but in the evening he was very heavy and dull, 
an unusual thing for him. On Sunday, December Idth, he took a short 
walk with Lady Gill in the Park, but returned sooner than usual as he 
complained of being tired. He remained indoors all the rest of the day, 
thus setting aside an invariable custom of his life in London of putting 
in an appearance at the Albert Hall Sunday afternoon concerts. He 
remained in the house the morning of the 15th, writing for the most part 
at his desk. After dinner he had a slight shivering fit which was thought 
to be simply influenza, but next morning Sir Lauder Brunton pronounced 
it to be double pneumonia. 
For six weeks Sir David Gill struggled with the disease. At times it 
was thought that he would recover, but towards the end the heart 
became affected and the case was considered hopeless. 
He died on the morning of January 24th almost conscious to the last. 
He lies buried in the God's acre of his folk in Aberdeenshire : his 
memory is the heritage of the ages. 
When the news of his death reached South Africa there was wide- 
spread evidence of profound regret, for although he had been gone for 
years from the country, yet the influence of his personality and the 
memory of his achievements were still unlessened and unshadowed. 
He had filled so large a place in the scientific life of the land that 
the flight of the years only seemed to accentuate the unique position 
he had held. 
It is probable that the transition period in which Gill lived and worked 
may have afforded place for the discharge of his manifold and outstanding 
gifts. But in any age he would have been great. He possessed in no 
uncertain measure that creative faculty which makes an epoch and a 
