OBITUARIES, FOREIGN. 



629 



distinguished, not only for skillful prestidigita- 

 tion, in which art he was without an equal, 

 but for original delusive tricks of his invention 

 and witty impromptu variations. Herrmann 

 acquired such control over his facial muscles 

 that he could alter his features so as to he un- 

 recognizable. He delighted to puzzle strangers 

 in hotels and public places by transforming 

 objects before their eyes, and other tricks of 

 legerdemain. He once, before giving a per- 

 formance at the palace of Abdul Aziz, provided 

 himself with a duplicate of a watch of unique 

 design that was usually worn by the Sultan. In 

 the course of his exhibition he threw the Sultan's 

 valuable time-piece into the Bosporus, and then 

 allayed the consternation of the courtiers by con- 

 juring the replica from the monarch's pocket. 



Hunt, Robert, an English scientist, born in 

 Devonport, England, Sept. 1, 1807; died in 

 Chelsea, England, Oct. 17, 1887. He discovered 

 several photographic processes, and largely con- 

 tributed to a more perfect knowledge of the in- 

 fluences of light, heat, and the chemical action 

 of the solar rays upon the growth of plants. 

 The results of these researches were printed in 

 the "Transactions" of the British Association, 

 and of the Royal Society. He was the origi- 

 nator of the publication of statistical returns of 

 the mineral produce of the United Kingdom, 

 and was made keeper of the mining records. 

 In 1866, he was one of the Royal Commis- 

 sioners appointed to inquire into the quantity 

 of coal left unworked in the British coal-fields. 

 He was the first appointed Professor of Me- 

 chanical Sciences to the Government School of 

 Mines. When the Mining Record office was 

 abolished in 1883, he was retired with a pen- 

 sion. His first book was a treatise on "Pho- 

 tography." His other publications are "Re- 

 searches on Light " (1844) ; " The Poetry of 

 Science " (1849) ; " Panthea, or the Spirit of 

 Nature " (1849) ; " Elementary Physics " 

 (1851); "Manual of Photography" (1852); 

 three editions of " Ure's Dictionary of Arts, 

 Manufactures, and Mines " ; the " Synopsis " 

 and "Hand-book" of the exhibitions of 1851 

 and 1862 ; and a comprehensive work on 

 " British Mining" (1884). 



Husband, William, an English mechanical en- 

 gineer, born at Mylor, near Falmouth, England, 

 Oct. 12, 1823 ; died in Clifton, England, May 

 3, 1887. He became an apprentice in the 

 Hayle foundry, and in 1844 was sent to erect 

 the pumping-engines used to drain Haarlem 

 Lake, Holland. He entered the service of the 

 Dutch Government, and was employed to su- 

 perintend the drainage-works, which were com- 

 pleted in seven years. He then returned to 

 England, and eventually became a partner in 

 the Hayle foundry. He was the inventor of 

 an oscillating cylinder ore-stamping machine, 

 a balance- valve for water- works, a four-beat 

 pump-valve, and a safety plug for the preven- 

 tion of accidents. 



Iddesleigb, Sir Stafford Henry Northcote, Earl of, 

 an English statesman, born in Londonj Eng- 



land, Oct. 27, 1818 ; died there, Jan. 12, 1887. 

 He came of an ancient Devonshire family, 

 and was educated at Eton, and at Balliol Col- 

 lege, Oxford. After his graduation he re- 

 turned to London, and in 1841 was chosen by 

 Mr. Gladstone, who was then President of the 

 Board of Trade, as his private secretary. He 

 remained in this position until Mr. Gladstone 

 retired from the Government of Sir Robert 

 Peel in 1845. In 1847 he was admitted to the 

 bar, and the same year he became Legal Secre- 

 tary of the Board of Trade. His pamphlet on 

 the "Navigation Laws" attracted much atten- 

 tion at this time. He succeeded his grand- 

 father in 1851 in the baronetcy, which had 

 belonged to his family for several generations, 

 and in the same year he officiated as one of the 

 secretaries of the World's Fair. In 1853-'54 

 he was associated with Sir Chartes Trevelyan 

 in an inquiry into the condition of the civil es- 

 tablishments of the Crown, and their report 

 presented in 1854 eventually led to the estab- 

 lishment of the Civil Service Commission, and 

 to the throwing open of the Civil Service gen- 

 erally to public competition. He first entered 

 the House of Commons in 1855 as the Conserv- 

 ative member for Dudley. From 1858 to 1866 

 he sat in the House as member for Stamford, 

 and in 1866 he first became a member for his 

 native constituency of North Devon, which he 

 represented until 1885. In 1856 he was ap- 

 pointed Financial Secretary to the Treasury, 

 but went out of office with his party in 1859. 

 In 1866, on the formation of Lord Derby's 

 third Administration, he became President of 

 the Board of Trade, but resigned this office in 

 the following year for that of Secretary of 

 State for India, in which post he remained till 

 1868. Sir Stafford Northcote was by this time 

 recognized as one of the leaders of the Con- 

 servative party. In 1871 he was nominated 

 by Mr. Gladstone as one of the Special Com- 

 missioners for the negotiation of the Treaty 

 of Washington, which had for its main object 

 the final settlement of the "Alabama" Claims. 

 In 1874, after the resignation of Mr. Gladstone 

 and the return of Mr. Disraeli to power, Sir 

 Stafford Northcote was appointed Chancellor 

 of the Exchequer. His financial policy is re- 

 markable for the final extinction of the sugar 

 duties, counterbalanced by a slight increase in 

 the tax on tobacco ; for the temporary reduc- 

 tion of the income-tax to 2d. in the pound ; 

 and for the establishment and maintenance of 

 a really effective sinking fund, which has been 

 maintained intact by his successors. From 

 1876, when Mr. Disraeli entered the upper 

 House, till 1880, Sir Stafford Northcote was 

 Conservative leader of the House of Commons. 

 In 1885 he was elevated to the House of Lords 

 as Earl of Iddesleigh, and became First Lord 

 of the Treasury in Lord Salisbury's first Gov- 

 ernment. In 1886, when Lord Salisbury again 

 became Prime Minister he was appointed Sec- 

 retary of State for Foreign Affairs. As Chan- 

 cellor of the Exchequer, Sir Stafford Northcote, 



