140 Memoir of the late 



the resignation of Sir John Prin- 

 gle. Dr. H. had for some time held 

 the office of Foreign Secretary with 

 the greatest credit ; but tiie new Pre- 

 sident, who wislied the situation to be 

 filled by a friend of his own, procured 

 a vote to be passed by the Society, 

 that it was requisite this secretary 

 should reside constantly in London ; a 

 condition with which the Doctor coukl 

 not possibly comply ; and he tlierefore 

 resigned the situation. Many of the 

 most valuable members of the Society, 

 however, warmly espoused Dr. H.'s 

 cause, anddiscontinuedtheiraccustom- 

 ed attendance at the usual periodical 

 meetings : among the number may be 

 mentioned Dr. Horsley, Dr. Maskc- 

 lyne. Baron Maseres, and many other 

 distinguished characters; who, finding 

 that the disciples of Newton were 

 always outvoted by those of Lin- 

 nffius, retired, with Dr. Hutton, from 

 tlie Society. When tlie matheinati- 

 cians were preparing to secede. Dr. 

 Horsley expressed himself in the fol- 

 lowing energetic words : — " Sir, (ad- 

 dressing himself to the President,) 

 when tlie hour of secession comes, the 

 President will be left witli his train of 

 feeble amateurs and that toy— (point- 

 ing to the mace on the table,) the ghost 

 of the Society where philosophy once 

 reigned, and Newton was her mi- 

 nister." 



This secession took place in 1784, 

 since which period very few papers on 

 mathematical subjects have appeared 

 in the "■Philosophical Transactions;" 

 and it is even said, that the late Presi- 

 dent uniformly opposed the admission 

 of mathematicians into the Royal So- 

 ciety,unless they were persons of rank. 



Although Dr. Button's retirement 

 deprived him of the great stimulus to 

 exertion which such a Society must 

 have afforded, he still continued to 

 give to the world, from time to time, 

 various valuable works. In 1785 he 

 published his " Mathematical Tables," 

 containing common, hyperbolic, and 

 logistic logarithms; also sines, both 

 natural and logarithmic ; w ith several 

 other tables used in mathematical cal- 

 culations: to which is prefixed, a large 

 and original history of the discoveries 

 and writings relating to those sciences. 

 In 1786 appeared his "Tracts onMathe- 

 matical and Philosophical Subjects," in 

 three volumes, which coijtain much 

 new and valuable matter. They were 

 reprinted in 1812. In 1787 " the Com- 

 pendious Measurer" was p\iblished; 



Dr. Hutlon. [March I, 



which is chiefly an abrid{?ment of his 

 large work on mensuration. In the 

 following year, he imblished his "Ele- 

 ments of Conic Sectimis," with select 

 exercises in various branches of ma- 

 thcQiatics and philosophy, for the use 

 of the Royal Military Academy at 

 Woolwich. This work was warmly 

 patronised by the Duke of Richmond, 

 then Master-general of the Ordnance, 

 who, on that occasion, presented Dr. 

 Hutton at court to his Majesty. 



In 1795 appeared his "Mathematical 

 and Philosophical Dictioiiarij," in two 

 large volinnes, quarto, which was the 

 result of many years' preparation, 

 and has since advanced to a second 

 edition. It has supplied all subse- 

 quent works of the kijul, and even the 

 most voluminous Cjclopfedias, with 

 valuable materials,both in the sciences, 

 and in scientific biography. 



His next publication was "A Course 

 of Matliematics" intwo\o\nmes,oci?c»o, 

 composed for the use of the students of 

 the Royal Military Academy ; which 

 has since become a standard work in 

 all eminent schools, both in Great 

 Britain and America. It has passed 

 through numerous editions ; and in 

 1811 a third volume was added, which 

 is said to have been prepared nearly 

 in equal portions by Dr. Hutton, and 

 his esteemed friend Dr. Olinthus 

 Gregory, now Professor of Mathema- 

 tics in the Royal Military Academy. 



In the year 1803, he undertook the 

 arduous task of abridging the " Phi- 

 losophical Transactions," in conjunc- 

 tion with Dr. Pearson and Dr. 

 Shaw. Dr. Hutton is said to have 

 executed the chief part of the work, 

 and to have received for his labour no 

 less a sum than six thousand pounds. 

 It was completed in 1809, and the 

 whole comprised in eighteen quarto 

 volumes. About the same period was 

 published his translation of "Mo?i<Mc/a'* 

 Recreations in Mathematics and Natural 

 Philosophy ;" and an improved edition 

 of the same work appeared in 1814. 



In 1806 the Doctor became afflicted 

 with a pulmonary complaint, which 

 confined him for several weeks ; but in 

 the following year he resumed his pro- 

 fessional duties. His medical friends, 

 however, advised him to retire from 

 the labours of the Academy, as soon 

 as it might be deemed convenient; 

 and, in consequence of an application 

 to this effect, the Master-general and 

 Board of Ordnance acceded to bis 

 wif^hcs, and manifested their approba- 

 tion 



