Sir Marc Armand Ruffer (1859-1917) pioneer of palaeopathology.

Fwr YEARs have elapsed since the death of Sir Marc Armand Ruffer and it would seem proper at this time to pay tribute to his memory and to re-assess the influence of his palaeopathological studies in the continuing development of that subject. Ruffer was born at Lyons in France in 1859 and was the son of Baron Jacques de Ruffer (member of a well-known banking family) and of a German mother. His early education took place in France and Germany but he later came to England where he graduated in arts from Brasenose, Oxford, and in medicine at London. He studied for a short time at the Pasteur Institute, while Pasteur and Metchnikoff were actively working there. At this period he was interested mainly in the pathology and micro-biology of inflammation and in 1891 he became first director ofthe British Institute of Preventive Medicine (now the Lister Institute). While investigating the diphtheria bacillus Ruffer became infected with the disease and suffered such severe paralytic sequelae that he was compelled to resign his post and went to convalesce in Egypt. He took up residence in Ramleh and in due course was appointed Professor of Bacteriology at Cairo. He later became President of the Sanitary, Maritime and Quarantine Council of Egypt and one of his major achievements was the elimination of cholera from the country by measures enforced at the El Tor Quarantine Station and elsewhere. He also served on the Indian Plague Commission and at the outbreak of the First World War he became head of the Red Cross in Egypt. He received his knighthood in 1916 and in December of that year went to Salonika to reorganize the Sanitary Service of the Greek Provisional Government. While returning to Egypt from Salonika he died at sea in the spring of 1917; the exact date appears to be in doubt. His wife, Alice Mary, Lady Ruffer, daughter of a British Army Officer, continued to live in Alexandria and died there on 11 January 1950 at the age of 80. Ruffer (not surprisingly in view of his education) was a linguist of ability although he had no special knowledge of Arabic, a not inconsiderable player on the violoncello and, somewhat incongruously perhaps, an expert billiards player. He was a man of quiet disposition, quaint humour and old-world courtesy. He was not a man of many words but was heard with great respect. He was an ideal colleague, unselfish and ever ready to help and advise others. He endeared himself to all with whom he came into contact. (Garrison, 1917; Plimmer, 1917; Ritchie and Williamson, 1918-19; Moodie in Ruffer, 1921). It is, therefore, clear that Sir Marc Ruffer would be worthy of remembrance in respect of his service as a bacteriologist and hygienist of international repute. His fame, however, rests rather on his pioneer works in palaeopathology. He was clearly fascinated by the wealth of human remains being discovered in Egypt and published