NKWTOH, GILBERT STUART, R.A. 



NEWTON, ISAAC. 



.-.nd published in the ' Philosophical Transaction*.' The princi|l of 

 tbeee w.re entitled, ' On the Keepiration of Insect* ;' ' On the Tempe- 

 rature of Insect*, and iU connection with the fuoctioni of Respiration 

 and Circulation in this class of Invertebrate*! Annuals ;' 'On the 

 Oifaneof Krprudiiction and Development of the Mynapoda; 1 ' Uu 

 tae Structure, Relations uil IVvelopmeut of the Nervous and 

 Cvoulating SynU'ii *, and on the eiuu-uco of a complete circulation 

 of the blood in vessel*, in llyriapoda and Macrourous Araclmida;' 

 <m the IteproHnction of lot parti in Myriapoda and Ineeoto,' Ho 

 al>o published a twice of paper* on kindred subject* in the 

 ' Transactions ' of the Liniuoan Society. 



The laboun of Newport, as a comparative anatomist, were chiefly 

 pflfinntd to the iniect tribe*. Of all classes of animala they present 

 the greatest variety of forma, and the largest number of adaptations 

 of structure, to the circumstances in which they are placed. They, 

 hence afford a wide field for research to the comparative anatomist. 

 It is however f<-w who are endowed with the patience and delicate 

 manipulative skill which the dissection of their delicate organisms 

 demand. From his youth Newport had taken a delight in investigating 

 the structure of insect*, and his paper on the nervous system of the 

 SpUmx was received with astonishment, on account of the skill aud 

 labour it displayed. In this paper he not only gave a minute account 

 of the anatomy of the nervous system of this insect, but pointed out 

 the relation which existed between the parts of the nervous system in 

 insects and other animals. In the same philosophical spirit he pursued 

 his rt searches in other departments of insect life. His papers on the 

 respiration and temperature of insects, showed the relation between 

 these two functions long before the chemical changes by which they 

 are accompanied were understood. In his papers also on the repro- 

 duction of limb* in articulate animals, the structure of the blood- 

 globule in infects, and the development of the ovum in the same class 

 of animals, will bo found a series of researches bearing on all the 

 modern progress of physiology. A resume" of his own researches upon 

 insect anatomy and physiology, with those of other comparative 

 anatomists, will be found in his article ' Insect*,' in the ' Cyclopedia 

 of Anatomy and Physiology.' 



Whilst it is as an anatomist and physiologist that Newport takes a 

 first position, his minor works and papers claim for him the highest 

 merit as an entomologist. He was most diligent in his observations 

 on the habits of insects, as is proved by bis prize essay on the ' Habits 

 and Economy of Atbalia ceutifolix, the Sawtly of the Turnip.' 

 Besides this paper he published many others on the habits of infects. 

 In one of these he announced the discovery of a new genus of Parasites, 

 and worked out their history in the most accurate and beautiful 

 manner. This paper was published in the ' Transactions ' of the 

 l.innican Society, and was entitled, ' The Anatomy and development 

 of certain Cbalcidida and Icbneumonidn, compared with their special 

 economy and instincts; with descriptions of a new genus and apecies 

 of Bee-Parasite*.' As a systematic entomologist, he devoted his atten- 

 tion to the description and classification of the family Myriapoda. 

 The specimens of these animals in the British Museum were arranged. 

 and the catalogue descriptive of them published by the authorities of 

 that institution was drawn up, by him. 



Newport early joined the Kntomological Society, and contributed 

 many papers to it* ' Translations.' In 1844 he was elected president 

 of this society, and in 1845 he was re elected. 



Dunng the last few years of his life he had devoted great attention 

 to the development of the ova in various kinds of animals. Ho pub- 

 lished two series of paprn on the development of the embryo in the 

 ova of the Amphibia, and at the time of his death was engaged in 

 drawing up a third. It wa* in consequence of pursuing this subject 

 that he met with hi* death. In the spring of 1854, being desirous of 

 obtaining rame frog* for the purpose of pursuing bis researches, he 

 exposed himself to the malaria of the pond* which these creatures 

 inhabit, and on the Oth of April sunk under a fever thus contracted. 



Although Mr. Newport became a member of the College of Surgeons 

 in li>35, and was made an honorary fellow in 1843, he wa* too devoted 

 to hie icntiuc pursuits to follow his profusion. But England ha* no 

 positions to offer her men of science, and during the Utter years of his 

 life he maintained himself on a pension of ludi. a year granted him 

 by ke government. Kven the luxury of belonging to a scientific 

 soeUty ha* to be paid for, and out of hi* small pension Newport 

 maintained hi* connection with the Koyal and l.iuiuean societies, of 

 whjch he wa* so distinguished a fellow, and to whose Transactions ' 

 be contributed so largely. He was twice reworded with the royal 

 medal of the Koyal Society, and wa* a member of the council* of both 

 tb* Liuuean and lloyal societic*. His works were highly appreciated 

 by cootiaeatal pbiioeopben, and be was an honorary member of 

 several foreign societies. He wa* an amiable, retiring man, little 

 known beyond the limited sphere of men who cultivate the sciences 

 of comparative anatomy and physiology ; but hi* name will become 

 more widely known as these science* are more studied, and the true 

 value of lii* reerarcbe* be more widely apprteiated, 



N KWT. i X, ; I LBEBT STUAKT, kx, wa* born in 1794 at Halifax, 

 in Nova Scotia, where hie father wu collector of the custom*. He 

 cam* to England aboot 1820, and, after making a tour in Italy, entered 

 a* a student of the Royal Academy. He adopted Watteau in some 

 degree a* hi* model, and produced etveral excellent email pictures 



uiucii in the style of that matter as regards the figures, yet at the 

 same time displaying great expression and character. His first works 

 which attracted notice were ' The Forsaken.' and ' The Lovers' 

 Quarrel,' engraved in the ' Literary Simv, uir' for 1826. He painted 

 the Prince of Spain's Visit to Cataliua, for the Duke of Bedfor 

 500 guineas: it wa* engraved in the 'Literary Souvenir' for 183). 

 In 1830 be painted Shylock aud Jessica, from the 'Merchant of 

 Venice,' Yorick and thu Urisette, from the ' Sriitiinriitd Jmirm-y,' 

 and the Abbot Boniface from the ' Monastery ;' all in the oxhi 

 of the Koyal Academy in 1830. In 1331 he exhibited Portia and 

 Bassanio, another scene from the ' Merchant of Venice ; ' aud ' Lear 

 attended by Cordelia and the Physician.' In 1832 he paid a visit to 

 America, and married there ; and in the year folio wing, in which he 

 was elected an Academician, he exhibited a small picture of AbelarJ 

 sitting in his study a work full of expression and sentiment. Beside* 

 these he painted the Vicar of Wakefield restoring his daughter to her 

 mother, ' Macheath,' and a few portraits. His ' Macheatu ' was pur- 

 chased by the Marquis of Lausdowne for 500 guinea*. 



Hi* ' Abelard ' was the last picture that he exhibited in the Royal 

 Academy, in 1833, and it was about this time that he evinced signs of 

 aberration of uiiud, and these were followed by unequivocal insanity, 

 which however he recovered from four days before his decease, and he 

 died with calmness and resignation on the 5th cf August 1835, at 

 Chelsea, aged forty. 



NEWTON, ISAAC, was born on the 25th of December 1642 (old 

 style), at Woolathorpe, a hamlet in the parish of Colaterworth and 

 county of Lincoln, eight miles south of Qrantham. From the pedigree 

 registered upon oath in the Heralds' Office, by Newton himself, in the 

 year 1705, it appears that he wa* descended from a family of tht 

 name which was resident at Westby in Lincolnshire until about the 

 year 1370 (' Biog. Brit.'), when it became possess*! of the manor of 

 Woolsthorpe. His father, Isaac Newton, married the daughter of 

 James Ayacough, of Market Overtoil iu Rutlandshire, aud the subject 

 of this article was their only child. The mother was left a widow 

 during her pregnancy, and appears to have given premature birth to 

 her child, which was of extremely diminutive size. Mrs. Newton, 

 whose income was little more than SOI. per annum, soon contracted 

 a second marriage with the Rev. Barnabas Smith, rector of Xortli 

 Witham, whereupon young Isaac, then about three yean old, wan 

 confided to the care of hw maternal grandmother, by whom he wa* 

 sent to two day-schools at Skillington and Stoke, until he attained the 

 age of twelve years, when he was admitted into the free grammar- 

 school of Qrantham. While here he evinced considerable aptitude 

 for mechanical contrivances, and among other things he constructed 

 a windmill and water-clock ; but in the prosecution of his regular 

 scholastic studies he for some time took little interest, aud accordingly 

 stood very low in the school At length however " the boy who was 

 above him, having one day given him a severe kick upon the stomach, 

 from which he suffered great pain, Isaac laboured incessantly till ho 

 got above him in the school, and from that time he continued to rise 

 until he was the head boy." ( Brewster's ' Life. 1 ) The decease of Mrs. 

 Newton's second husband in 1656 induced her to return to the rnauor 

 of Woolsthorpe, and in that year Isaac was taken from school to assist 

 iu the management of the farm. Accordingly on market-days he wo* 

 cent to Uranthain, accompanied by an agod domestic, either to dispose 

 of farm produce, or to purchase such things a* were needed by the 

 family. But ou these occasions it more frequently happened that 

 Isaac stopped by the way-side, watching the motions of a water-wheel, 

 or some other piece of machinery; or, if he reached the town of 

 Urautham, it was only to resort to the apothecary'* garret in which he 

 had resided while he attended the grammar school, and where a few 

 old books afforded him ample entertainment until his trusty com- 

 panion summoned him to return home. Those and other instances 

 having shown the iuutility of thwarting his studious disposition . \, 

 was shortly after sent back to Orautham school How long he 

 remained at school this second time does not appear, but when he had 

 attained hU seventeenth year it was determined to send him to Trinity 

 College, Cambridge, at the recommendation of hi* uncle, the Kev. W. 

 Ayeoough, who had been himself educated there. Hi* matriculation 

 took place on the 5th of June 1660, the year in which Dr. Barrow wa* 

 appointed to the Greek professorship. 



It is a matter of regret that no definite information exist* as to t'uo 

 order in which Newton punned hi* mathematical studies before 

 entering tb* university. Biot gives an uuauthenti<-ated although very 

 probable anecdote to the effect that, while Newton was yet a lad, 

 " one of his uncles found him beneath a hedge, wholly absorbed in the 

 solution of a mathematical problem ;" but we find no meutiou of any 

 mathematical work which had occupied hU attention, with 41m 

 exception of the ' KleinenU' of Kiiclid. It has been averted that a 

 glance at the fundamental |-ropo*itioiin was immediately followed by 

 a knowledge of the numerous consequences which may thence bo 

 deduced ; but the fame of Newton is not enhanced by stating as true 

 what i* in the highest degree improbable. There is no doubt that be 

 bad read the 'Element*,' though not perhaps with that attention 

 which he afterward* acknowledged their importance deserved. As to 

 hi* knowledge of natural philosophy, his water-clock, windmill, and 

 nun-dials may be considered as evidence of hi* early acquaintance with 

 the principle* of mechanic* and with the doctrine of the sphere ; for 



