Obituary Notices. 
xxi 
Professor Cosmo Innes Burton, 
By William Marshall, Esq. 
(Read July 20, 1891.) 
By the death of Cosmo Innes Burton the Society has lost one of 
the most promising of its younger Fellows. His loss is keenly 
felt, not only among his large circle of friends, hut by many who, 
though they did not know him personally, had come under his 
influence as a teacher, and had learned his worth. The following 
short sketch of his life will show better than anything else the 
untiring energy, perseverance, and devotion to science by which he 
was characterised : — 
Mr Burton was born in 1862, and was the younger son of John 
Hill Burton, the well-known historian, from whom he inherited 
much of his originality of thought and dry humour. He began the 
study of science in 1879, attending the classes necessary for the 
Science Degree in the University of Edinburgh, where he graduated 
as Bachelor of Science in 1884. During his University course he 
distinguished himself by winning the Neil-Arnott Prize in Physics 
in 1881, and the Hope Prize in Chemistry in 1885. The winter of 
1882-83 was spent in Munich, where he studied under Professor 
Eslenmeyer. From Munich he went to Paris, where for nine 
months he worked in the laboratories of Professor Wurtz. While 
there he assisted the late Professor Henninger in his researches on 
Erythrite, and Professor Hanriot in his investigations on Strychnine 
and the Compounds of Glycerine. 
In 1885 Mr Burton received the appointment of Assistant to 
Professor Japp, F.B.S., at the Normal School of Science, London, 
with whom he published jointly several papers, which appeared in 
the Proceedings of the Chemical Society. 
About this time the Town Council of Edinburgh was making an 
inquiry into the state of ventilation in the Board Schools and Public 
Buildings in the city, and Mr Burton was asked to undertake the 
analysis of the air in connection with this investigation. The 
