Xll 



of other men, and catholic in his range of knowledge. 'Yet he did not 

 read a memoir completely through : his custom was to read only sa 

 much as would enable him to grasp the meaning of the symbols and 

 understand its scope. The main result would then become to him a 

 subject of investigation : he would establish it (or test it) by alge- 

 braical analysis and, not infrequently, develop it so as to obtain other 

 results. This faculty of grasping and testing rapidly the work of 

 others, together with his great knowledge, made him an invaluable 

 referee ; his services in this capacity were used through a long series 

 of years by a number of societies to which he almost was in the 

 position of standing mathematical adviser. 



Concurrently with his teaching, he continued his investigations. 

 He wrote only one book a 'Treatise on Elliptic Functions,' pub- 

 lished in 1876, which was intended to bridge over the gap from 

 Legendre's ' Traite des Fonctions Elliptiques ' to Jacobi's ' Funda- 

 menta Nova ' ; it contains a considerable amount of new matter. 

 Bat paper after paper was published in a long unfailing succession 

 almost until his death ; their tale amounts to more than 800. 

 Happily for the convenience of mathematicians, the republication of 

 his papers in collected form was undertaken by the Cambridge 

 University Press perhaps the most enduring, certainly not the least 

 fitting, monument of his fame. The request was made to him in 

 1889 by the Syndics of the Press; he willingly acceded to it and 

 deeply appreciated, both then and afterwards, what he regarded as a 

 great compliment to himself. Seven large quarto volumes, under his 

 own editorship, have already appeared. The preparation of them 

 was always a great happiness to him ; and, especially in the later 

 years of his life, it gave him an occupation in his science which was 

 still within the range of his failing strength. At the time when the 

 collection was begun it was estimated that ten volumes would suffice 

 for the purpose, but it is now evident that ten will be certainly in- 

 sufficient. The Syndics of the Press intend to complete the series of 

 volumes ; it is a matter of regret that the illustrious author of the 

 papers has not lived to complete it himself. 



Even his teaching and investigations did not fully occupy his 

 time. For the first few years after his return he was left compara- 

 tively free from a large share in administration, but gradually it was 

 assigned to him. As he became better known for his effective busi- 

 ness capacity, his share in administration grew until he came to 

 be regarded as an indispensable member of the Council of the 

 Senate. He was elected a member of that body on 7th November, 

 1876, and with the exception of some six months Avhen he was absent 

 in America, he continued a member of it until 1892, when failing 

 health compelled him to resign. During this period of service he 

 was re-elected three times ; while party feeling ran rather strongly 



