174 SCIENTIST IN RUSSIA

the time of his last illness, he was writing a book on the
control of evolution by the environment.

Two days after Keller's death, he was given a * red funeral
in the lecture theatre attached to the biology block of the
Academy of Sciences. All the morning masses of flowers
and wreaths were carried into the lecture theatre, and
arranged behind closed doors. In the afternoon people
began to arrive. The doors were opened and at 3 o'clock
the ceremony,began.

The lecture theatre was bright with flowers. Standing up
against the wall were giant wreaths, some of them four or
five feet high. On the small platform, behind a bank of
chrysanthemums and almost hidden by palms, a string trio
was playing softly. In the middle of the hall, lying on a
bank of moss and flowers, was the body of Keller, dressed
in a black suit, collar and tie, with his little white beard
powdered and combed neatly, and his hands folded. At
his feet on a red velvet cushion lay his decorations, and at
his head was an immense photograph of himself, draped
in black and red cloth. At the four corners of the bank of
flowers on which he lay there were four colleagues, with
black bands on their arms, who stood at attention and
gazed at the corpse. Every five minutes.this guard of
honour was changed: another four colleagues or students
filed in and took up their positions. The hall was filled
with eminent biologists, party members, students, and
workers from the Botanic Garden.

The music stopped. Academician Orbeli, Biological
Secretary of the Academy, stepped forward to where the
body lay, and delivered a brief talk about Keller's scientific
research, his explorations and journeys, his work as
propagandist for Soviet science, and his loyalty to the
Party. He stepped back and the soft music started again.
Then Lysenko stepped forward, and spoke rapidly and
nervously about Keller's value as a populariser of science
and as a good communist. After Lysenko, some of
Keller's colleagues spoke: Maximov, Sukachev, and the