202 Britain's Heritage of Science 



defects of our patent laws, or other restrictions imposed by 

 the legislature of the country, but to the neglect of continued 

 scientific research within the factory. 



Sir Frederick Abel (1827-1902) has been mentioned as 

 one of the students of the Royal College of Chemistry. His 

 subsequent work, carried on while he occupied the position 

 of Professor of Chemistry at the Koyal Military Academy 

 and Chemical Advisor to the War Department, dealt mainly 

 with the manufacture of explosives. Through his efforts 

 guncotton could be made and handled without danger, and 

 cordite is the joint invention of himself and Sir James Dewar. 

 He also designed the apparatus, legalized in 1879, for the 

 determination of the flash point of petroleum. 



The name of Lyon Playfair (1819-1898) deserves to be 

 remembered as one who actively encouraged research through- 

 out his life, and exercised a considerable amount of influence 

 in promoting scientific enterprises. He was born in India, 

 educated at St. Andrews, and subsequently studied medicine 

 at Glasgow. Attracted towards chemistry by the teaching 

 of Thomas Graham, he went to study the subject under 

 Liebig at Giessen. For two years he managed the chemical 

 department of some print works in Clitheroe. Though he 

 subsequently held for a time the Professorship of Chemistry 

 at the Royal Institution in Manchester, at the School of 

 Mines in London and at the University of Edinburgh, it 

 is neither as a teacher nor investigator, but rather as a con- 

 sistent upholder of scientific principles, that he has left 

 his mark. He had a considerable share in the organization 

 of the Great Exhibition of 1851, and in the foundation of the 

 Department of Science and Art. In 1844 he sat on the Royal 

 Commission for the examination of the sanitary conditions 

 of large towns and public districts, and maintained through- 

 out his life a great interest in that subject. He served on 

 many other Royal Commissions. In 1868, Playfair was 

 returned as the first representative in Parliament of the 

 Universities of St. Andrews, and in 1885 was elected member 

 for the southern division of Leeds. He held office as Post- 

 master-General, and later as Vice-President of the Council 

 of Education. The honour of a peerage was conferred upon 

 him in 1892. 



