March 3, 192 1] 



NATURE 



i^ 



Chester, in i860 as professor of natural philo- 

 sophy, ' and was appointed professor of experi- 

 mental philosophy in the University of Oxford in 

 1865, which appointment he held until 1915. 



The position of physics in 1865 was very dif- 

 ferent from what it is at the present time; there 

 was then no such thing as a physical laboratory 

 actually built for the purpose. CUf ton's first work 

 was the building of the Clarendon Laboratory, 

 which was completed in 1872. The architect, no 

 <ioubt, was responsible for most of the exterior, 

 but the interior fittings down to the minutest 

 details were practically carried out from Clifton's 

 own working drawings. The necessary funds 

 came from the trustees of Edward, second Earl 

 of Clarendon, an alternative competitor for these 

 funds being a riding-school. 



The laboratory having been built, it had to be 

 equipped with apparatus, which was a labour of 

 love to Clifton, who was a born instrument-maker. 

 Much of the apparatus is of his own designing, 

 with the result sometimes that when an instru- 

 ment had been brought to perfection it had 

 become too sacred to be entrusted to the common 

 herd. 



Clifton was an excellent and inspiring lecturer, 

 and spent an enormous amount of time in design- 

 ing and fitting up apparatus for lecture purposes, 

 so that his lectures were often more of the nature 

 of laboratory demonstrations ; time, however, was 

 no consideration; no student could hope to get 

 through even one subject during his academical 

 life. He devoted himself to his pupils, both in 

 Oxford and afterwards in obtaining posts for 

 them. Besides lecturing, he took a large share 

 in the laboratory instruction. This consisted 

 almost entirely of repetitions of known experi- 

 ments carried out with as much accuracy as 

 possible. Research in the modern, sense was not 

 welcomed with open arms ; the apparatus was too 

 jealously guarded; but every student received a 

 sound grounding in accurate experimental work, 

 which no doubt bore good fruit later in many 

 cases. 



Clifton served on the council of the Royal 

 Society for several years, was president of the 

 Physical Society from 1882-84, was on the Royal 

 Commission on Accidents in Mines from 1879-86. 

 and at the same time had an estate in Lincoln- 

 shire to look after. All this, combined with his 

 teaching, kept him constantly engaged, as he 

 worked very thoroughly and deliberately at any- 

 thing he took up, so that he had very little time 

 left for original work ; his published papers, in 

 fact, are very few. 



Clifton's method of private work was peculiar; 

 he was popularly supposed to begin about mid- 

 night, and to go to bed with the "hooter," the 

 Great Western Railway whistle which is sounded 

 at Oxford at 5.30 a.m. ; as he never took any 

 exercise, it was a mystery how he managed to 

 maintain his general fitness. 



Clifton married in 1862 Miss Catharine Elizabeth 

 Butler, and during her lifetime kept a most hos- 

 pitable house. Every Sunday he had some of his 

 MO. 2679, VOL. 107] 



students to lunch, having previously furnished 

 them with a sketch of the route to his house. 

 He was a most lovable man, who had the affection 

 of all his pupils, and was a welcome addition to 

 any company. 



Prof. W. Odling, F.R.S. 



On February 17 the death occurred at 

 Oxford of the former Waynflete professor of chem- 

 istry, in his ninety-second year. For many years 

 the name of Prof. Odling has been almost un- 

 known to students of chemistry, except to those 

 who have become acquainted with something of the 

 history of their subject during the last century. 

 But it deserves to be held in respectful remem- 

 brance both by students of chemistry and by the 

 large body of professional chemists now practis- 

 ing in this country, though probably only a con- 

 temporary could appreciate at their full value 

 Odling 's services to science on one hand, and 

 on the other the position of influence in relation 

 to applications of chemistry which he held fifty 

 years ago. 



William Odling was born in Southwark in 

 1829, the son of a surgeon. After leaving school 

 he studied medicine at Guy's Hospital Medical 

 School, and graduated M.B. Lond. with honours 

 in physiology and comparative anatomy in 1851. 

 Before this time, in 1848, he had shown his bent 

 in the direction of chemistry by becoming a 

 fellow of the Chemical Society, then in the early 

 days of its existence. He never practised medi- 

 cine, but proceeded to Paris in 185 1, where he 

 placed himself under the famous Alsatian chemist 

 Gerhardt, and so received some impress from his 

 teacher which doubtless influenced his attitude 

 later as an exponent of chemical theory. In 1856 

 he became one of the hon. secretaries of the 

 Chemical Society, being associated during the 

 first nine years with the late Prof. Redwood, 

 and during the last four with the late Mr. 

 A. G. Vernon-Harcourt. In the years i860 to 

 1872 Odling gave great assistance to the Enghsh 

 chemists of his time by his masterly discourses at 

 the Chemical Society on subjects such as the 

 fixation of atomic weights, valency, and classifica- 

 tion, then matters of frequently hot debate. 



From 1868 to 1872 Odling held the Fullerian 

 professorship at the Royal Institution, previously 

 held by Faradav, and in 1872 he moved to Oxford, 

 having been appointed Waynflete professor of 

 chemistry in succession to Sir Benjamin Brodie. 



his appointment he retained for forty years until 

 he retired in 191 2. Oxford at the time of his 

 appointment was still too much under the con- 

 servative influences which had for so long 

 retarded the progress of science in the Univer- 

 sity, and, like the other scientific departments, 

 chemistry had to struggle during many years. _ 



In 1877 V the Institute of Chemistry had its 

 origin in a voluntary association of chemists united 

 in the desire for the organisation of the pro- 

 fession and for improvement in the- education and 

 qualifications of those who intended to practise 



