Proceedings. 149 



had his life been spared he would have proved a valuable 

 and earnest friend of the Society. 



Death has also removed the following Honorary Mem- 

 bers from the Society's roll, viz. : — Mr. J. B. Dancer, F.R.A.S., 

 Professor A. de Bary, and Professor Asa Gray. Memorial 

 notices of the two last-named by Mr. Charles Bailey, F.L.S., 

 have already been published in the present volume of 

 Memoirs and Proceedings. In consideration of Mr. Dancer's 

 long connection with the Society it is fitting that a more 

 ■detailed record of his life and work should also be included. 



John Benjamin Dancer was born in London on 

 October 8, 18 12, and may be said to have been born an 

 optician, his father and grandfather having been makers of 

 optical and scientific instruments. In 18 18 his father, Mr. 

 Josiah Dancer, removed to Liverpool, where he carried on 

 the business of optician and philosophical instrument maker ; 

 he was also a public lecturer on science, and was an active 

 promoter of the Mechanics' Institute and Literary and 

 Philosophical Institution of Liverpool. The foundation of 

 Mr. Dancer's optical knowledge was laid in his father's 

 workshop. He also assisted his father in his lectures, and 

 very early in life evinced a strong bias for mechanical and 

 scientific pursuits. In 1835 the father died, and the 

 business was afterwards carried on by the subject of this 

 sketch. 



After a few years Mr. Dancer removed to Manchester, 

 where, in 1842, he was elected a member of this Society, of 

 which he was in 1884 elected an honorary member. In 

 1845 he became a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical 

 Society. In the successful exhibitions which were held 

 many years ago at the Mechanics' Institution, both in Cooper 

 Street and afterwards in David Street, Mr. Dancer took a 

 very important part. It was he who suggested the appli- 

 cation of photography to the magic lantern, and who, by 



