105 



and active assistance when such were required in the tran- 

 saction of business. 



In connection with this Society he will, however, be 

 chiefly remembered by two works, the " Life of Dalton and 

 the Atomic Theory " and "A Centenary of Science in Man- 

 chester," which were written at our request, and form two 

 volumes of our series of Memoirs. 



Into the merits of those works it will be unnecessary to 

 enter, as they must be well known to all the members. For 

 the last work we are under peculiar obligations to him, as 

 it was undertaken contrary to the advice of his friends at a 

 time when his health was declining, and he was already 

 overburdened with other work. 



He was also a Fellow of the Royal Society and of the 

 Chemical Society of London, and a member of several 

 learned societies on the continent. Had he been more of a 

 specialist it is probable that the list of societies that have 

 sought to honour him by membership and in other ways 

 would have been longer. In the year 1881 the degree of 

 LL.D. was conferred on him by the University of Glasgow, 

 a distinction which coming from his alma mater, the seat of 

 learning in his native town, he valued highly. The same 

 degree was awarded to him by the University of Edinburgh 

 in 1882. 



Dr. Smith's health had evidently been declining for some 

 years. Not endowed with a very robust constitution, and 

 unable, as it appeared to some, to take the amount of 

 sustenance required for so active an existence as his, the 

 great labours which were partly imposed on him, and partly 

 undertaken voluntarily, began in time to tell on his health. 

 To the entreaties of his friends to allow himself some rest 

 he did not reply by a direct refusal, but continued to work 

 on with unabated zeal, as if the stock of vigour he had to 

 draw on were inexhaustible. 



Various changes of scene were tried, but without effect, 



