Sir F. Pollock, Ex-Chief Baron of the Exchequer, died on
Then- -day at the great age of eighty-six. He was one of the few con- aiderable lawyers who keep their minds studiously open to the 'world of science, and is said to have declared on one occasion -that if he could have chosen his lot in life he would have -studied medicine, but practised law. It was probably this apprecia- tion of scientific work and discovery which made the College -of Surgeons choose him for their standing counsel. He had great attainments, it is said, in astronomy, chemistry, physi- -ology, and medicine, and showed wonderful mastery in the -legal exposition of cases involving technical knowledge. He was strong Conservative, and it was easy to see his political bias in his much criticized judgment in the Alexandra case during the Americah war. A judge deep in science, and even expert in photography, was not likely to be of the first order of legal intel- lect,—for law is exclusive in its demands on the time of those -who enter into it deeply ; but the late Chief Baron was, perhaps, something rarer than a very great lawyer,—a good lawyer, with a cnind not stiffened and crooked by law for the study of nature.
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