Vll 



by him on this subject. Indeed, his last paper, written a few days 

 before his death, on the invitation of the London Section of the 

 Society of Chemical Industry, consists of a resume of the conclusions 

 to which his long-continued work on this subject had led him. He 

 maintained his touch with technology until the last, and he was an 

 acknowledged authority on those branches of manufacturing chemistry 

 with which he had become practically acquainted during his career. 

 Gifted with a remarkable literary faculty and power of exposition, 

 Wright was much sought after as a contributor to the literature of 

 chemical technology. He wrote a number of ar 4 ides on tar distil- 

 ling and tar products in * Muspratt's Dictionary ;' the articles on iron 

 and steel in the last edition of the ' Encyclopaedia Britannica,' and 

 the monographs on "Soap," "Sulphur," and "Sulphuric Acid" 

 in Thorpe's ' Dictionary of Applied Chemistry.' In 1878 he gave a 

 series of lectures at the Royal Institution on "Metals and their 

 Industrial Applications," which were subsequently expanded and 

 published in book form ; and, in 1885, he gave a course of Cantor 

 lectures at the Society of Arts on the "Manufacture of Soap," He 

 was a frequent contributor to the proceedings of the London Section 

 of the Society of Chemical Industry, and the Journal of the Society 

 contains a number of his communications. 



Wright took an active share in the formation of the Association 

 which ultimately developed into the Institute of Chemistry, and he 

 was a member of the Council of that body. 



Much of his work was done under the depressing conditions of 

 indifferent health, and at times he experienced great physical pain. 

 From his boyhood he had suffered from, an affection of the hip joint, 

 which eventually ended in lameness, and the consequent inability to 

 take exercise reacted very markedly upon his general health. His 

 friends, however, were hardly prepared for the suddenness of his end. 

 After an illness of a few hours' duration, he died on the 25th July, 

 1894, having barely attained his forty-ninth year. 



T. E. T. 



GEORGE JOHN ROMANES was born at Kingston, Canada West, on 

 May 20, 1848 ; but, his parents having soon after removed to Eng- 

 land, his childhood was spent in London or its immediate neighbour- 

 hood. Ill-health having rendered it desirable that he should reside 

 in a warmer climate, the family subsequently left England, and, in 

 consequence, his education was somewhat irregular. The surround- 

 ings of his boyhood and youth were, however, both enjoyable and 

 healthful, and conduced to the development of that love of out-of- 

 door life and intense interest in the external aspects of nature, which 

 were so prominent in his after life. Romanes entered at Caius 

 College, Cambridge, in 1869, and subsequently obtained a scholarship 



VOL. LVII. c 



