Obituary Notices. 
XXXV 
He became a Fellow of our Society in 1851, and for many years 
was a regular attender at the meetings, and he served for several 
years on the Council. Although not himself a scientific worker, he 
took much interest in hearing of the progress of science in the 
world, hut the papers on the literary side of the Society, then more 
numerous than of late years they have been, probably had greater 
attractions for him. He passed away on 28th July 1890, at the 
ripe age of ninety, preserving his intellect unclouded and his 
interest in life unabated to the end. 
Although he could not be described as a great preacher, his pulpit 
ministrations were appreciated by his successive flocks, and his kindly 
interest in their welfare secured the affection of many. Probably his 
most characteristic quality was his sagacity as a counsellor, whether 
amid the turmoil of ecclesiastical strife, or, later in life, in the manage- 
ment of the numerous societies and institutions with which he was 
connected. His memory will be cherished as that of one who 
realised the dignity of his high profession, and exhibited in his 
person some of the best qualities of a Scottish clergyman of a school 
now fast passing away. 
Professor Kolbe. By Prof. Crum Brown. 
Professor Herman Kolbe was the eldest son of the Rev. Carl 
Kolbe of Elliehausen, near Gottingen, and was born on the 27th 
of September 1818. He was educated at home by his father till 
his fourteenth year, when he entered the Gottingen Gymnasium. In 
April 1838 he began the study of chemistry, under Wohler, in the 
University of Gottingen, where he also acquired a thorough theo- 
retical and practical knowledge of physics and mineralogy under 
Listing and Hausmann. 
In 1842 Kolbe was appointed assistant to Bunsen in the chemical 
laboratory of the University of Marburg. He took the degree of 
Ph.D. in that university in the following year, the title of his 
thesis being “ On the Products of the Action of Chlorine on Bisul- 
phide of Carbon.” 
In the autumn of 1845 he removed to London as assistant to 
Lyon Playfair. In the spring of 1847 he returned for a short time 
to Marburg, and in the autumn of the same year removed to 
