1916] General Monthly Meeting 703 



Dynamos," He also wrote the Lives of Michael Faraday, Lord Kelvin and 

 Philip Reis, and a translation of the " De Magnate " of William Gilbert of 

 Colchester. 



Professor Silvanus P. Thompson was a INIember of the Royal Institution 

 for thirty years, and discharged the official duties of a Visitor and a Manager. 

 He always took a keen interest in everything connected with the history, 

 progress and general scientific work of the Royal Institution. He was a man 

 possessed of exceptional gifts, for quite apart from his scientific qualifications, 

 he was an artist of no mean pretensions, and had extraordinary literary and 

 linguistic aptitudes. He was an eloquent and clear exponent of scientific 

 problems, and the experimental illustrations to his lectures were always care- 

 fully devised and extremely original. He delivered no less than thirty-six 

 lectures to the Members of the Royal Institution in the course of twenty- 

 seven years, which were always exceedingly attractive, and highly appreciated 

 by the ^Members and the World of Science. 



The subjects of his Christmas Courses of Lectures were : — " Light : 

 Visible and Invisible," published in 1897 ; and on " Sound : Musical and Non- 

 Musical." 



He delivered Day Lectures on the following subjects : — " The Dynamo " ; 

 " Electric Eddy-Currents " (The Tyndall Lectures) ; " The ' De Magiaete ' and 

 its Author: 1. The Book; 2. The Man"; "Studies in Magnetism" (The 

 Tyndall Lectures) ; "Illumination: Natural and Artificial"; "Faraday and 

 the Foundations of Electrical Engineering." 



The Friday Evening Discourses identified with his own special field of 

 enquiry — viz. Acoustics, Optics, Electricity and Magnetism — were as follows : — 



"The Physical Foundation of Music"; "Optical Torque"; "Trans- 

 formations of Electric Currents " ; " Electric Shadows and Luminescence " ; 

 " Magnetism in Transitu " ; " The Electric Production of Nitrates from the 

 Atmosphere " ; " The Secret of the Permanent Magnet " ; " Corona and other 

 Forms of Electric Discharge," the last of which was delivered this year. 



Resolved, That the Managers desire to express, on behalf of the Members 

 of the Royal Institution, their most sincere sympathy with Mrs. Thompson 

 and the family in their bereavement. 



The Chairman declared, in the terms of Bye-Laws, Chapter IV. 

 Article 2, that there was a vacancy in the Office of Manager through 

 the decease of Dr. Silvanus P. Thompson, and that at the next 

 General Meeting on November 6, the vacancy will be filled up in 

 •accordance with the said Bve-Law. 



The FoLLowiNa Report from the Ma^tagers to the 

 General Month^.y Meeting of the Members was Read : 



The Managers desire to inform the Members that they have 

 received a communication from Mr. Robert Mond, acting on behalf 

 of the Executors of the late Dr. Ludwig Mond, Founder of the Davy 

 Faraday Laboratory of the Royal Institution, informing them that 

 they have been and are taking the necessary steps to accumulate 

 Trustee Securities, which will enable them in the near future to 

 discharge their liabilities under the Will and Trust Deed towards the 

 Managers of the Royal Institution. 



The Executors add that they are pleased to think that, with the 

 high rate of interest prevailing, the income of the Davy Faraday 



