6 
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. [Sess. 
ship compelled him in 1903 to resign. For four years longer he retained 
his position at college, when, to the regret of his colleagues, failing 
health obliged him to retire. Lieut.-Col. Bailey was elected a Fellow of 
the Society in 1894, and served one term on the Council (1896-99). His 
death took place on 21st December 1912. 
John M £ Arthur, F.C.S., Sussex. . . . He was elected to the Fellowship 
of the Society in 1888, and died on 19th December 1912. . . . [See Obituary 
Notice, Proceedings, vol. xxxiii. p. 333.] 
Robert M. Ferguson, Ph.D., LL.D., who died on 31st December 
1912, at the advanced age of 84, was elected a Fellow in 1868, and served 
three terms on the Council. He acted also as the representative of the 
Society on George Heriot’s Trust. . . . [See Obituary Notice, Proceedings, 
vol. xxxiii. pp. 342-345.] 
A. Beatson Bell, advocate, of Kilduncan, Kingsbarns, Fife, and a 
former Chairman of H.M. Prison Commissioners for Scotland, died on 
6th January 1913, in his 81st year. He was elected a Fellow in 1886, 
and served three terms on the Council. Mr Bell was all his life much 
interested in educational matters, having acted as a director of Edinburgh 
Academy, a governor of Donaldson’s Hospital, and a governor of the 
Trust for Education in the Highlands. He held various other important 
positions, such as director of the Royal Institution for the Home Relief 
of Incurables, and director of the Royal Sick Children’s Hospital. He 
was also a Fellow of the Royal Scottish Society of Arts, and served as 
President of that Society from 1897 to 1899. 
George Alexander Gibson, D.Sc., M.D., LL.D., F.R.C.P.E., was elected 
a Fellow in 1881, and served one term on the Council. He died on 18th 
January 1913, in his 59th year. I need not attempt to appraise Dr 
Gibson’s position as a medical man — we know that he was a brilliant 
member of his profession, respected and beloved by all who knew him. 
It is hardly too much to say that the premature death of this distinguished 
physician has been mourned by the whole community, and has been felt 
as a great loss to this Society. 
Sir William White, K.C.B., F.R.S., London, was elected a Fellow in 
1890. Sir William, who has been called “ the father of the modern British 
Navy,” had a most notable career. With no advantages of fortune or social 
position, he worked his way in the Naval service from the humble posi- 
tion of a shipwright apprentice to the important position of Director of 
