1887 .] 
The Chairmans Address. 
447 
and pleasure. Those who heard him on these occasions, and those 
who were associated with him in the discharge of the Society’s 
business, must all deeply regret that his tenure of office was so 
short, and that the close of his life came so soon. Born of a 
family to whom we owe the wonderful advance which has taken 
place in the science of lighthouse-illumination, it was his fortune to 
carry to still further perfection that branch of scientific knowledge 
which had been so handed down to him, a branch of knowledge, it 
need scarcely be added, among the most admirable in its practical 
results, providing not for one nation alone but “in salutem omnium ” 
for the mariners and the argosies of all nations, a series of star-like 
guides over the otherwise trackless ocean. It has been said in an 
able and affectionate filial tribute to his memory, which I cannot 
resist quoting, that “ his lights were in every part of the world guid- 
ing the mariner ; his firm were consulting engineers to the Indian, 
the New Zealand, and the Japanese Lighthouse Boards; in Germany 
he had been called the Nestor of lighthouse-illumination; even in 
France, where his claims were long denied, he was at last, on the 
occasion of the late Exposition, recognised and medalled.” Few 
men, it has also been truly said, were more beloved in Edinburgh, 
where he breathed an air that pleased him; and I am sure few 
men have ever been more highly regarded by this Society than our 
late President. 
It is with feelings of deep and unfeigned regret that we recall 
the loss which the Society has suffered in the death of Mr Robert 
Gray. We all feel that in him we have lost a warm personal 
friend. He was the highest authority on Scottish Ornithology, and 
had a large and accurate acquaintance with other branches of natural 
history. He was Secretary of the Royal Physical Society, and by 
his able and energetic management may almost be said to have 
given it a new lease of life. He rendered valuable service to our 
own Association, which devolved on him some of its most delicate 
and difficult business. His bright and genial presence will long 
and regretfully be missed at the meetings of this Society and its 
Council. 
The brilliant early career of Adam Gifford, both at the bar and 
on the bench, and the affecting circumstances under which that 
career was ended, as it were in the noontide of life, are familiar to 
VOL. XIV. 31 / 1/88 2 F 
