Samuel Edward Peal passed away in Assam, India, on July 29, 1897. He was born December 31, 1834. Originally an artist, he went to India in 1862 as a tea-planter. In 1873 he discovered that tea blight was caused by an Aphis, whose life history he investigated. He did useful work in exploring the Naga Hills to show the practicability of a direct route from India to China. He completed a work on the grasses and trees of Assam, but the MS. was destroyed through the burning of his bungalow. Latterly, he gave much attention to astronomy. His theory of lunar surfacing as due to glaciation was well known at the time of his death, and he wrote a paper on "A Possible Cause of Lunar Libration." He was a frequent contributor to the Indian Press and to Nature on natural history subjects.

At the meeting of 1891-09-22 a letter was read from Mr. S.E. Peal, F.R.A.S., of Sibsagar, Assam, India, covering transmission of two publications of his upon the lunar surface. Mr. Peal was elected a corresponding member of the Astronomical and Physical Society of Toronto at the next meeting on 1891-10-06.