Men of the Time, eleventh edition/Balfour, Francis Maitland
BALFOUR, Francis Maitland, M.A., F.R.S., is a son of the late Mr. James Maitland Balfour, of Whittinghame, Preston-kirk, and was born in 1851. He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, and graduated in the Natural Science Tripos in 1873, being placed second in the first class. He was elected a fellow of Trinity on the first occasion on which he was eligible—viz., in Oct., 1874. He at once took an active part in conjunction with Dr. Michael Foster in the prosecution of the study of biology, and very early obtained a high reputation, not only as a teacher, but as an original investigator. In 1878 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, and is now a member of the Council of that learned body. In Nov., 1881, he was awarded a Royal medal by that society, and the claims for that distinction are thus stated in the proceedings of the society:—"Mr. Balfour's investigations in embryology and comparative anatomy have placed him thus early in life in the front rank of original workers in these branches of science. His monograph upon the development of elasmobranch fishes, published in 1878, embodies the results of several years' labours, by which quite a new light has been thrown upon the development of several important organs in the vertebrata. More recently Mr. Balfour has published a most important work on comparative embryology in two large and fully illustrated volumes, which stands alone in biological literature, not only as an admirable and exhaustive summary of the present state of knowledge respecting the development of animals in general, but by reason of the vast amount and varied character of the original researches which are incorporated in its pages." In addition to the works above alluded to, Mr. Balfour has published in conjunction with Dr. Michael Foster "Elements of Embryology." He has also contributed a very large number of smaller memoirs to the Proceedings and Transactions of the Royal Society, the Zoological Society, and the Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science. In 1880 he received the honorary degree of LL.D. from the University of Glasgow. In 1881 he was elected President of the Cambridge Philosophical Society. He is also one of the secretaries of the British Association. On May 31, 1882, he was elected Professor of Animal Morphology at Cambridge by an unanimous vote of the members of the electoral roll selected to fill the newly-established chair. The professorship was established by a grace of the Senate passed on May 11, 1882, by virtue of the provisions of the University Statute for the establishment of additional professors. The stipend attached to the chair is £300 per annum, and it is provided the professorship shall terminate with the tenure of office of the professor first elected unless the University shall decide that the professorship shall be continued.