292 PETER GUTHRIE TAIT 



as his extraordinary range of learning, came prominently before the world. In 

 1883 Dr Smith was appointed Reader in Arabic at Cambridge, and three years 

 later he succeeded the late Mr Bradshaw as librarian to the University. He was 

 afterwards elected to a Fellowship at Christ's College, and to the Professorship of 

 Arabic. 



What Smith might have done in science is shown by his masterly paper " On 

 the Flow of Electricity in Conducting Surfaces" (Proc. R. S. E., 1870), which was 

 rapidly written in the brief intervals of leisure afforded by his dual life as simul- 

 taneously a Student in the Free Church College, and Assistant to the Professor of 

 Natural Philosophy in Edinburgh University. 



We understand that his engagement as Assistant to Prof. Tait had its origin 

 in the extremely remarkable appearance made by young Smith as a Candidate in 

 the Examination for the Ferguson Scholarships, an examination in which most of 

 the very best men in the four Scottish Universities are annually pitted against one 

 another. 



In Edinburgh University he did splendid service in the work of initiating the 

 Physical Laboratory : and there can be no doubt that the esprit de corps, and the 

 genuine enthusiasm for scientific investigation, which he was so influential in ex- 

 citing there, have inaugurated and promoted many a successful career (not in this 

 country alone, but in far regions everywhere), and that, near and far, his death will 

 be heard of with heart-felt sorrow. 



A light and playful feature of his too few years of scientific work consisted in 

 his exposures of the hollowness of the pretensions of certain " philosophers," when 

 they ventured to tread on scientific ground. Several of these will be found in 

 the Proceedings and Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1869-71). 

 Smith treats his antagonist " tenderly " as if he loved him, but the exposure is 

 none the less complete. 



A writer in The Times thus testifies to Dr Smith's remarkable powers : " In him 

 there has passed away a man who possessed not only one of the most learned but 

 also one of the most brilliant and striking minds in either of the great English 

 Universities, and who was held in the highest regard by the leading orientalists of 

 the continent. His extraordinary range of knowledge, the swiftness and acuteness 

 of his intellect, and his passionate love of truth combined to make an almost unique 

 personality. His talents for mathematics and physical science were scarcely less 

 remarkable than those for linguistic studies, and if he had not preferred the latter, 

 there is no question that he could have reached great eminence in the former." 



