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is unaware that their invention was rendered possible by a profound grasp 
of purely scientific principles. While in these days he dare no longer 
express other than respect for the practical results of science, he as a rule 
fails completely to appreciate the pure science which has made them 
possible. The worker at pure science he treats at the most with a good- 
natured toleration : most likely he looks on the expenses incurred in his 
investigations as so much money thrown away. Murray’s line of work 
on submarine deposits he would regard as a particularly good example of 
such waste of money. And yet these studies led to the discovery and 
development of the wealth of Christmas Island, and the small fraction of 
that wealth which went to the British Government, in the form of rents, 
royalties, and taxes, exceeded within fifteen years the entire cost of the 
Challenger Expedition and the publication of its results. 
Murray was an active supporter of various of our Scottish institutions. 
He acted for a time as scientific member of the Fishery Board. He was 
the enthusiastic secretary of the committee which got together funds for 
the erection of a highdevel observatory on Ben Nevis, and remained a 
director and convener of the Works Committee until the observatory was 
closed. He was President of the Scottish Natural History Society and of 
the Royal Scottish Geographical Society. In our own Society he served 
continuously for about twenty years on the Council, and for a prolonged 
period acted as one of the Secretaries and as Vice-President. He was one 
of those who objected most strongly to the eviction of the Society from its 
old quarters on the Mound. 
Murray’s achievements as a great man of science won full recognition 
both at home and abroad. He was created a Knight Commander of the 
Bath, a foreign Knight of the Prussian Order Pour le Merite, a Knight 
Grand Cross of the Royal Norwegian Order of St Olav : he was an honor- 
ary graduate of Edinburgh, Oxford, Harvard, Jena, Geneva, Christiania, 
Liverpool : he was an honorary member of most of the important scientific 
societies and academies of the world : and he was the recipient of numerous 
medals and other distinctions. The end came to his busy and fruitful life 
on 16th March 1914, when he was instantaneously killed, near Edinburgh, 
in a motor accident. 
In connection with this notice I have to record my indebtedness tO' 
Mr Laurence Pullar for clearing up certain points’ regarding which I was 
in doubt, and to Mr James Chumley — Murray’s long-time secretary and 
assistant — for providing the accompanying bibliography. 
