WILLIAM AUGUSTUS NORTON. 531 



post of duty, and many of his old pupils now filling responsible posi- 

 tions throughout the country will testify to the practical value of his 

 instruction, to his great capacity as a teacher, and to his character as 

 a man. 



By his death the Sheffield Scientific School thus loses its oldest and 

 one of its most widely known and beloved instructors. A teacher of 

 more than fifty years' experience, an earnest and careful investigator, 

 the school has had almost from its very inception — over a period of 

 more than thirty years — the benefit of his skill and zeal. With its 

 growth and rapid development he is identified, and to his faithful and 

 devoted labors its success and reputation are largely due. 



A teacher's best testimonial is the esteem and respect of his pupils, 

 his best reward their love and confidence, and in this respect Profes- 

 sor Norton stood very high. No teacher ever had more loyal pupils. 

 It has been the privilege of the writer to be his pupil, afterwards his 

 colleague, — always his friend, — and during that period of seventeen 

 years he has never met or known any student to entertain or suffer 

 any doubt of Professor Norton's entire impartiality, his skill and 

 fidelity as a teacher, or his friendly interest. With a manner pecu- 

 liarly genial and endearing in tlie class-room, frank and manly always 

 and at times almost jovial, he imparted to every pupil something of 

 his own enthusiasm, and made each one feel that his instructor was 

 also a personal friend. No student ever acted upon this impression 

 and found it to fail. Ever ready with suggestion, advice, encourage- 

 ment, and aid, young at heart himself and believing thoroughly in the 

 young men under his charge, he was more to them than the subjects 

 he taught, and his personal influence was better than books. Many 

 of his old pupils will learn of his death with keenest sorrow, and will 

 feel his loss as that of a friend. 



Professor Norton was not a man whose work began and ended in 

 the class-room. His educational and scientific contributions were 

 numerous and important. Among these the chief published works 

 are a " Treatise on Astronomy, Spherical and Physical," 1839, and 

 a " First Book of Natural Philosophy and Astronomy," 1858. Of 

 these, the first is a very complete and thorough treatise, which has 

 passed through several editions. 



His scientific memoirs were contributed mostly to the American 

 Journal of Science, or the Philosophical Magazine of Loudon, or 

 were read at meetings of the American Association for the Ad- 

 vancement of Science, or of the National Academy of Sciences. Of 

 these, the following are some of the more important : — 



