100 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



ordinary demand in England and America that the supply could not 

 be met. The lenticular stereoscope was also his invention. The 

 dioptric apparatus used in lighthouses was so vastly improved by 

 him that his successor at the University of Edinburgh wrote: "Every 

 lighthouse that burns round the shores of the British Empire is a 

 shining witness of the usefulness of Brewster's life." At the time of 

 his death he had attained the ripe age of 87 years. Such was the man 

 who left an indelible impress upon the mind of William Brydone- 

 Jack, and which he fittingly acknowledges in his Encœnial address 

 in 1870. 



In his college course at St. Andrews, young Brydone-Jack was 

 distinguished for proficiency in mathematics and physics, carrying off 

 the highest prizes in those departments of study. He received his 

 M .A. degree in 1840 and very shortly afterwards was offered the 

 chair of physics in Manchester New College in succession to the cele- 

 brated Doctor Dalton. About the same time he was ofi^ered the 

 position of professor of Mathematics, Natural Philosophy and Astro- 

 nomy in King's College, Fredericton. Sir David Brewster and other 

 friends, who took a warm interest in his welfare, advised him to take 

 the latter position, as they considered him too young— not having 

 then attained his twenty-first birthday — to safely risk his reputation 

 in the wider and, as it was thought, more ardous field of study pursued 

 at Manchester. Their counsels prevailed and he accepted the New 

 Brunswick professorship. 



Here we may pause to observe that New Brunswick, in common 

 with other parts of Canada, has been greatly indebted to Scotland for 

 many of her leading educationists. Among them we may include the 

 founder of the old "College of New Brunswick," Dr. James Somer- 

 ville, also Professors David Gray, Dr. James Robb and Dr. W. Bry- 

 done-Jack; also two of our Chief Superintendents of Education, Dr. 

 John Bennet and Dr. William Crockett. All were men of marked 

 ability, high ideals, energetic and progressive. Gray and Robb 

 arrived in October, 1837, and their coming was the beginning of a more 

 fnodern era in the history of the college. 



Previous to the appointment of Professor Brydone-Jack the chair 

 of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy at Fredericton had been filled 

 by Professor David Gray, who resigned in 1839 to accept the principal- 

 ship of the Royal Academy at Inverness, and it was upon Gray's 

 recommendation that the council of King's College selected so young 

 a man as Brydone-Jack for his successor. 



Professor Jack reached Fredericton in the month of September, 

 1840, intending to remain not more than a year or two and then to 

 return to his native land. Fortunately for the cause of higher edu- 



