her husband to Japan, where he had been appointed to a professorship in the Imperial College of Engineering in Tokyo. While in Japan, she pursued anthropological researches, and opened a school for Japanese midwives, in which she lectured with the aid of an interpreter. In 1877, she developed tuberculosis forcing her return to Europe. In 1879, she took the MD at Paris, and presented as her thesis the results of her Japanese studies, which were printed under the title of Recherches sur les dimensions générales et sur le développement du corps chez les Japonais (Paris, 1879). In 1880, she became a licentiate of the King and Queen's College of Physicians in Ireland, where she was the only female candidate at the examinations. She headed the pass lists in medicine and midwifery. In 1880, she lived in London, chiefly studying diseases of the eye at the Royal Free Hospital. As a result of her tuberculosis, her health continued to decline and for the next two winters, she continued her studies abroad in a warmer climate. The first year winter, she spent at the hospital of Algiers and then second at the physiological laboratory at Montpellier. Author The Dictionary of National Biography records: "From the time of her journey to Japan Mrs. Ayrton contributed to The Scotsman and other periodicals a large number of articles on very various topics, including Japanese politics and customs, and the educational problems of the West." She took a keen interest in the Japanese people and never wearied of studying them and their country. She became more and more interested in the home life of the Japanese and in the pictures and stories which delighted the children of the Mikado's Empire. After her return to England, she wrote a book entitled Child Life in Japan which was illustrated from her own sketches. Personal life and legacy Ayrton always took a lively interest in attempts to improve the educational opportunities and social position of women. She actively aided the establishment of a club for women students in Paris, and helped to organise the Somerville Club for women in London." Chaplin and Ayrton's daughter was the feminist and author Edith Ayrton, wife of Israel Zangwill and mother of Oliver Zangwill. Ayrton died in London on 19 July 1883, aged 37. The Edinburgh Seven were awarded the posthumous honorary MBChB at the University of Edinburgh's McEwan Hall on Saturday 6