94 Obituary Notices of Fellows deceased. 



On the completion of his academical career, Mr. Walker engaged 

 permanently in educational work. From 1853 to 1862 he was private 

 tutor in the Guinness family. Soon after the close of this engagement 

 he migrated to London, and in 1865 was appointed Afternoon Lecturer 

 on Applied Mathematics and Natural Philosophy at University College 

 School. In the same year he became a member of the London 

 Mathematical Society, then recently formed. He was President of 

 that Society 1888-90, and later on he became a member of the 

 Physical Society. In 1883 he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society 

 of London. His connection with University College School terminated 

 in 1888, and his extended leisure was afterwards devoted to original 

 research. 



From 1868 to 1882 he was Vice-Principal of University Hall, and 

 from 1871 to 1883 acted as examiner on Mathematics for the Hibbert 

 Scholarships. 



Mr. Walker was of a reserved temperament, marked by a somewhat 

 precise courtesy of manner which seemed to belong to a bygone 

 generation. His real kindliness was shown by genial estimates of 

 character and liberal appreciation of the labours of others engaged in 

 kindred studies. He died on the 15th February, 1900, at Hampstead, 

 where he had resided for some years. Tn 1874 he married Emma 

 (youngest daughter of the late Mr. William Turner, of Newcastle), 

 who survives him. 



Numerous communications to leading scientific journals are due to 

 Mr. Walker's diligence. They range from brief papers relating to 

 particular problems of theoretical mechanics to elaborate memoirs on 

 the higher algebra and geometry. Several papers show practical skill 

 in the application of Hamilton's Quaternions to special and elementary 

 problems, and he held the opinion that this method had been too much 

 neglected as an instrument of research. Mr. Walker's most valuable 

 work, however, was on the lines of the higher algebra as set forth in 

 Dr. Salmon's famous text-books. Thus in the Proceedings of the 

 London Mathematical Society we find three connected papers on a 

 method in the Analysis of Plane Curves and Curved Lines. In these 

 are developed the methods employed in the 9th Chapter of the Treatise 

 on the Higher Plane Curves (2nd edition). In other papers particular 

 attention is given to cubic curves. This study led up to the memoir, 

 "On the Diameters of Cubic Curves," printed in the Transactions of 

 the Royal Society in 3889. In fact, Mr. Walker fully appreciated 

 the modern operational methods, and his papers merit the attention of 

 all who apply themselves hereafter to the advancement of the higher 

 algebra and its application to geometry. 



S. R. 



