28o 



NA rURE 



[January 20, 1898 



week corresponding to any date. In October last he 

 described in Nature a brief method of dividing a given 

 number by 9 or 1 1 ; and a second paper on the same sub- 

 ject, which appears in our correspondence columns this 

 week, probably represents his latest contribution to mathe- 

 matics. 



A characteristic of all his work was the absolute exact- 

 ness of expression at which he aimed, so that his defini- 

 tions and proofs should be logically perfect. This carried 

 a certain severity into his work, since, as he has himself 

 remarked, a semi-colloquial style is apt to be also semi- 

 logical, as nothing is more easy than to forget, in an 

 argument which is interwoven with illustrative matter, 

 what has, and what has not, been proved. It further 

 tended to require the repetition of what might for exact- 

 ness have to be a somewhat cumbrous periphrasis, to 

 prevent which, therefore, he introduced a number of 

 new terms and symbols ; few of these have, however, 

 been adopted into general use, though of the latter some 

 are extremely expressive, and in his hands were of great 

 value. 



Mr. Dodgson's mind was essentially logical, in spite of 

 the whimsical humour which has endeared " Lewis 

 Carroll " to every boy and girl — nay, every adult — in the 

 kingdom ; and of late years he devoted a large part of 

 his time to the study of the syllogistic methods of 

 formal logic. In 1887 he published "The Game of 

 Logic," and in 1896 "Symbolic Logic, Part I." 



A shy and retiring man, he was to his friends a most 

 charming companion, overflowing with the quaintest of 

 humour, and one whose love for children was typical of 

 himself, and whom to know was to love. 



NOTES. 



Mathematicians of all countries will be glad to hear that 

 active steps are being taken to perpetuate the memory of the 

 late Prof. J. J. Sylvester in a manner worthy of his reputation 

 and in consonance with the spirit of his work. The movement 

 was originated in this country by a few friends and admirers of 

 the late Professor's, who decided upon founding a Sylvester Medal 

 for the encouragement of mathematical research. The sympathy 

 with the movement displayed by all the mathematicians who 

 were communicated with, led the initiators to the conclusion that 

 the most appropriate memorial would be one of international 

 foundation, the more especially as Sylvester had a large number 

 of friends and pupils in America, where indeed he may be .said 

 to have brought about a mathematical awakening through his 

 connection with the Johns Hopkins University. The list of the 

 International Committee which has now been issued, although 

 only a preliminary one, comprises nearly the whole of the leading 

 mathematicians of the world, besides many of the personal 

 friends of the deceased mathematician and the representatives of 

 the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, London, Glasgow, Edin- 

 burgh and Dublin. From this list it might appear invidious to 

 select names, but it is satisfactory to be able to call attention to 

 the fact that it includes the Chancellor, High Steward and 

 Counsel of the University of Cambridge, the Vice-Chancellor of 

 the University of Oxford, the Provost of Trinity College, Dublin, 

 the President of Univeisity College, London ; with Lord Kelvin 

 and Prof. P. G. Tait as representatives of the Universities of 

 Glasgow and Edinburgh, and Prof. Henrici of the City and Guilds 

 Institute. France is represented by Profs. Hermite, Poincare, 

 Camille Jordan, and Darboux; Germany by Profs. Schwarz, Klein, 

 Fuchs, Gordan, and Lindemann ; Italy by the late Prof Drioschi, 

 and by Prof. Cremona ; and Sweden by Prof. Mittag-Leffler. 

 America has no less than fifteen names on the list, among them 

 being President Oilman of the Johns Hopkins, Profs. Simon 

 Newcomb, Willard Gibbs, and others representing the mathe- 

 matical chairs of the various Universities. It is indeed certain 



NO. 1473. VOL. 57] 



that some movement of the kind would have been initiated in 

 America if Sylvester's admirers in this country had not taken 

 action. Now through Dr. Cyrus Adler, of the Smithsonian 

 Institution, and Dr. G. Bruce Halsted, of Texas (a former pupil of 

 Sylvester's), the Americans are working for the general scheme, 

 and the two gentlemen named are acting as Treasurers for the 

 United States. The general Treasurer of the fund is Lord 

 Rothschild ; Major P. A. MacMahon is acting as Hon Secretary, 

 and Prof Meldola, as a friend of the late Prof. Sylvester's, 

 undertook the arduous work of preliminary organisation with 

 the results which we are now making public. The executive 

 Committee consists of Lord Rothschild, Major MacMahon, 

 Prof. Forsyth, Prof Greenhill, Prof. Henrici, and Prof. Meldola 

 as Organising Secretary. We are informed that the subscriptions 

 from private sources reached over 500/. at the end of the year, 

 and now exceed 600/., the American contributions not having 

 yet been forwarded. It is proposed that the Medal shall be 

 awarded triennially through the Council of the Royal Society, 

 irrespective of nationality. Any friends of Sylvester's, or others 

 who desire to participate in the movement, may send contribu- 

 tions to Lord Rothschild, New Court, St. Swithin's Lane, E.C. 



Mrs. Tyndall, the widow of Prof Tyndall, has sent the 

 following letter to Sir James Crichton-Browne, F.R.S., the Trea- 

 surer of the Royal Institution : " Dear Sir James, — As an expres- 

 sion of his attachment to the Institution, with which he was so 

 long connected, and of his sympathy with its objects, my 

 dear husband desired me (at such time as should be most 

 convenient to myself) to present in his name to the Royal In- 

 stitution 1000/. to be [disposed of as the Board of Managers 

 may see fit for the promotion of science. I have now the 

 plea.sure of remitting to you this sum. Yours faithfully, 

 Louisa C. Tyndall." Sir James Crichton-Browne, in the 

 course of his letter acknowledging this generous donation, re- 

 marks : — " The managers would, I am sure, desire to be guided 

 by any wish of yours as to the application of the gift ; but, in 

 the absence of any explicit directions, they will, I have no 

 doubt, employ it in the promotion of that original scientific 

 research in which your husband's vivid and penetrating intellect 

 delighted to exercise itself. Revered as your late husband's 

 memory is, and ever must be, in the Royal Institution, this 

 posthumous mark of his solicitude for its welfare will, if 

 possible, deepen the affectionate esteem in which he is held." 



The Council of the Royal Astronomical Society have awarded 

 the Gold Medal of the Society for this year to Mr. W. F. Den- 

 ning, "for his meteoric observations, his cometary discoveries, 

 and other astronomical work." The award was confirmed on 

 Friday last, and the medal will be given at the annual general 

 meeting next month. 



The deaths are announced of Dr. Eduard Lindemann, 

 scientific secretary in the observatory of Pulkova ; and Dr. 

 Oscar Stumpe, well known for his contributions on the motion 

 of the solar system. 



Dr. Maquenne, assistant at the Paris Museum d'histoire 

 naturelle, has been nominated professor of plant physiology, in 

 succession to the late M. Georges Ville. 



At the February meeting of the Edinburgh Mathematical 

 Society, a discussion on the proposal that, in the teaching of 

 elementary geometry, Euclid's definition of proportion be 

 abandoned, will be introduced by Prof. Gibson. 



We regret to see the announcement of the death of Lieut. - 

 Colonel C. Cooper-King, lecturer in natural science at the Staff 

 College, Camberley. Colonel Cooper- King was a Royal Marine 

 Artillery officer, and before joining the Staff College was an 

 instructor at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. 



