362 Obituary Notices of Fellows deceased. 



begun had a happy issue. In 1901 Roberts married for the second 

 time, and in this union with his fellow-traveller on the " Norse King " 

 Isaac Roberts found not only domestic affection, but also the happiness 

 of sympathetic co-operation in his noble work. His first wife, to whom 

 he had been married in 1875, was Ellen Anne, daughter of Mr. 

 Anthony Cartmel. 



The chief public testimony to the value of Dr. Roberts' work is 

 found in the facts that in 1890 he became a Fellow of the Royal 

 Society, that in 1892 he received the honorary degree of D.Sc. from the 

 University of Dublin on the occasion of its tercentenary, and that, as 

 already mentioned, he received the gold medal of the Royal Astro- 

 nomical Society in 1895. When he left Liverpool for Crowborough 

 he was presented with an address signed by the Mayor of Liverpool, 

 the leading citizens, and many scientific men connected with the 

 University College in that city. In Crowborough he was highly 

 respected for his vigorous independence of thought. Though he did not 

 come prominently before the public as a politician, he held exceedingly 

 strong views on many public questions. He was an enthusiastic Free 

 Trader, and a sturdy opponent of the recent Education Acts. 



His death took place quite suddenly on July 17, 1904. He had 

 been working at his negatives on the very last day of his life, only a, 

 few days after he had attended the funeral of his old and valued 

 astronomical friend, Captain Noble. 



His estate of 40,000 he bequeathed for the provision of annuities 

 to his widow and other relatives, the capital ultimately to go to the 

 Universities of Liverpool and Wales for the foundation of scholarships. 



Roberts' photographs will gather increased value as time advances. 

 The changes in the nebulae, if changes there be, can only be certainly 

 ascertained by the comparison of photographs separated by long, 

 perhaps very long, intervals of time. These magnificent plates have 

 been bequeathed by Dr. Roberts to his widow, Dorothea Isaac Roberts. 

 In her most capable hands astronomers know that nothing will be 

 omitted which zeal for the advance of astronomy and affectionate 

 reverence for the memory of the dead can suggest. 



The best memorial of Isaac Roberts is to be found in his two 

 magnificent volumes of " Celestial Photographs," which he generously 

 distributed widely among astronomers. We conclude with an extract 

 from the preface to Roberts' first volume in 1893, which he has 

 himself quoted from in the preface to his later volume in 1899. The 

 dignity of the words illustrates the character of the man as well as 

 the importance of his work 



" It has been my aim, in publishing the photographs and descriptive 

 matter contained in the following pages, to place data in the hands of 



