PHYSICAL SCIENCES 51 



have never had an insulated character, but have 

 been always made as contributing towards some 

 important end, as among the steps towards some 

 lofty generalisation. And with a most happy pre- 

 science of the points to which the rays of scattered 

 observations were converging, he has more than once 

 seen light while to other eyes all was yet in darkness ; 

 out of seeming confusion has elicited order ; and has 

 thus reached the high distinction of being one of the 

 greatest legislators of chemical science/ Sedgwick 

 proceeded to enjoy, as he expressed it, the ' delightful 

 privilege ' of announcing ' that His Majesty, King 

 William the Fourth, wishing to manifest his attach- 

 ment to science, and his regard for a character like 

 that of Dr. Dalton, has graciously conferred on him, 

 out of the funds of the Civil List, a substantial mark 

 of his royal favour. ' It is tempting to speculate upon 

 the views of Brewster, in the light of his opinions 

 upon scientific honours, 1 in regard to this particular 

 form of recognition. Roscoe (presidential address, 

 1887) recalled that ' the last three of Dalton's ex- 

 perimental essays . . . were communicated to our 

 Chemical Section in 1842, and that this was the last 

 memorable act of his scientific life/ 



In the first chapter of their volume Britain's 

 Heritage of Science, Sir Arthur Schuster and Sir 

 Arthur Shipley designate ten names as ' landmarks ' 

 of physical science, beginning with that of Bacon in 

 the thirteenth century. Of these, five Dalton, 

 Faraday, Joule, William Thomson (Lord Kelvin), 

 and Clerk Maxwell fall within the period of the 

 Association. Faraday's great range of discoveries 



1 Chap. I, p. 4. 



