Page:Dictionary of National Biography. Sup. Vol III (1901).djvu/156

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
Marshall
142
Marshall

year of her death she published some ninety novels, many of which, notwithstanding their mediocre character, were translated into German, French, Swedish, Flemish, and Russian, and became popular in America. From 1872 to 1876 she edited the monthly periodical called 'London Society.'

In 1872 she published in two volumes the 'Life and Letters of Captain Marryat;' it does not present a complete portrait of her father; the scanty material is supplemented by too many trifling details. In the latter years of her life she was much attracted to spiritualism. Although a Roman catholic, she received permission from her director, Father Dalgairn of the Brompton oratory, to pursue researches of the kind in the cause of science. 'There is no Death,' published in 1891, gives a detailed account of the various media with whom she came in contact, and of the séances she attended. Although it bears evident marks of the author's sincerity, it is difficult to believe that a large element of fiction does not enter into the volume. Other books dealing with the subject are 'The Risen Dead' 1893) and 'The Spirit World' (1894). 'Tom Tiddler's Ground,' a book of travel (1886), is an irresponsible account of America.

A woman of varied accomplishments, she added to the rôles of author and novelist those of playwright, comedy actress, operatic singer, giver of lectures and entertainments, and manager of a school of journalism. She acted in a drama of her own, entitled 'Her World,' produced in London in 1881. She died at St. John's Wood, London, on 27 Oct. 1899.

[Men and Women of the Time, 1899; Allibone's Dict., Suppl. ii. 983; Athenæum, 4 .Nov. 1899; Times, 28 Oct. 1899.]

E. L.


MARSHALL, ARTHUR MILNES (1852–1893), naturalist, born at Birmingham on 8 June 1852, was the third son of William P. Marshall, for many years secretary of the Institution of Civil Engineers and himself an enthusiastic naturalist. In 1870, while still at school, he graduated B.A. in the London University, and in the following year entered St. John's College, Cambridge, to read for the natural science tripos. At that time the school of biology was just arising. Francis Balfour [q. v.] had given it a great impetus, and Marshall was one of the first to take advantage of this change. In 1874 he came out senior in his tripos, and after graduating B.A. was appointed in the early part of 1875 by the Cambridge University to their table at the new zoological station at Naples. In the summer of the same year Marshall returned to Cambridge, and during the October term he joined Balfour in giving a course of lectures and laboratory work in zoology.

Marshall's next step was to qualify himself for a medical career. In 1877 he won an open science scholarship at St. Bartholomew s hospital, and in the same year he passed the M.B. examination at Cambridge, obtained the London degree of D.Sc., and was elected to a fellowship at St. John's College. These successes were followed by his appointment, in 1879, at the early age of twenty-seven, to the newly established professorship of zoology at Owens College, Manchester, and Marshall soon became known for his wonderful skill in teaching and his talent for organisation. His insight into what had to be done—whether it were a research on some zoological problem or the reconstruction of a department of study—was only equalled by the rapid and skilful way in which he accomplished the end in view.

In zoological science. Marshall's name is intimately connected with important discovery in embryology. At the time of his appointment to the chair at Owens College he was already known as the author of important memoirs on the origin and development of the nervous system in the higher animals; and after his election Marshall continued, both by his own contributions and in conjunction with his pupils, to influence the work and views of fellow-naturalists. Between 1878 and 1882 Marshall published 'The Development of the Cranial Nerves in the Chick,' 1878; The Morphology of the Vertebrate Olfactory Organ,' 1879; 'Observations on the Cranial Nerves of Scyllium,' 1881 (in conjunction with W. Baldwin Spencer); 'On the Head-cavities and associated Nerves of Elasmobranchs,' 1881. These papers appeared in the 'Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science,' and in 1882 Marshall published a memoir on 'The Segmental Value of the Cranial Nerves' in the 'Journal of Anatomy and Physiology.' The importance and originality of these solid contributions to knowledge were widely recognised, and, together with his later researches upon the anatomy of Pennatulid corals, they form Marshall's most important contributions to zoology.

Marshall's lasting work, however, was his development of zoological teaching and his organisation of the courses of biological study at the Victoria University. As a teacher Marshall excelled. He was clear, accurate, enthusiastic, and keenly alive to the difficulties of those who approach zoological