The youngest of four sons of Samuel Farrant, of Taunton, Somerset. His father had a widely extended practice around Taunton, and was well known in the county with its large sporting interests, as well as being Surgeon to the Hospital. (*Lancet*, 1903, ii, 846.) All four brothers were educated at Westminster Hospital, and the second, Sydney Farrant, followed his father as Surgeon to the Taunton Hospital. Rupert Farrant was educated at Epsom College, which he left as Jenk's Scholar in 1901; he studied the early subjects of the curriculum at King's College, London, and passed on to Westminster Hospital for the clinical portions. After qualifying he was House Surgeon and Resident Obstetric Assistant, then Surgical Registrar in 1911. He had been specially attracted to diseases of the thyroid gland by finding an affected area in the Mendips. A number of the cases from that area were taken into the hospital and formed the basis of his research. He received special encouragement from Professor Cushny at University College and worked in his laboratory, also at the Westminster Hospital Laboratory. He set himself in particular to examine the correlation between histological changes in the thyroid gland, the influence of the toxins produced, and especially the influence these toxins have on some forms of mental changes leading to insanity. In the War from 1914 he served as Captain RAMC in France, Gallipoli, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Italy, and was awarded the Military Cross for gallantry. Unfortunately he was seriously injured by a shell explosion, and also suffered from trench fever and nephritis. Whilst absent he was appointed Assistant Surgeon and Lecturer on Practical Surgery to Westminster Hospital. On being demobilized he not only took up active work as a surgeon, practising at 59 Queen Anne Street, but resumed his research. His health had been undermined, and there were evidences of mental disturbance. He had been appointed Hunterian Professor at the Royal College of Surgeons, but broke down in an attempt to deliver his lecture on February 4th, 1920. He felt obliged to relinquish his hospital duties, but intermittently continued his research whilst resting in the country. The rest seemed to offer a prospect of restoration, when on January 18th, 1921, he threw himself under a train at Kilburn Park station and was killed. The Coroner at the inquest said that Farrant had served his country well, and was a victim of war strain. Publications: "A Case of Rodent Ulcer presenting some Unusual Features." - *Brit. Med. Jour.*, 1911, ii, 1531. "A Case of Acromegaly." - *Proc. Roy. Soc. Med.* (Clin. Sect.), 1911-12, v, 193. "Thyroid Action and Reaction, with Special Reference to the Formation of Thyroid Tumours." - *Ibid*. (Pathol. Sect.), 1912-13, vi, 21. "Hyperthyroidism: its Experimental Production in Animals." - *Brit. Med. Jour.*, 1913, ii, 1363. "The Relation of the Thyroid to Antitoxin." - *Lancet*, 1913, ii, 1520. "The Pathological Changes of the Thyroid in Disease." - *Brit. Med. Jour.*, 1914, 1, 470, 680; *Proc. Roy. Soc. Med*. (Pathol. Sect.), 1913-14, vii, 49. "The Causation and Cure of Certain Forms of Lunacy." - *Brit. Med. Jour.*, 1916, I, 882; *Lancet*, 1916, I, 1260.