May 6, 1922] 



NATURE 



589 



contributions appeared in the years 1885-86. The 

 " Memoir on the Theory of Mathematical Form " is a 

 first-rate piece of work. Its avowed object is to 

 separate the necessary matter of exact or mathematical 

 thought from the accidental clothing — geometrical, 

 algebraical, logical, etc. — in which it is usually presented 

 for consideration, and to indicate wherein consists the 

 infinite variety which that necessary matter exhibits. 

 This long and thoughtful research shows that as a 

 thinker Kempe perhaps resembled W. K. Clifford more 

 than any one else has done in the world of science. 

 This indeed was recognised by Spottiswoode, who, 

 coming into possession of " Mathematical Fragments " 

 which had been reproduced in facsimile from the papers 

 left by Clifford, decided to send them to Kempe. He 

 dealt with them, and finding inspiration in the graph 

 theory which they contained he wrote a very valuable 

 and suggestive paper upon the " Application of Clifford's 

 graphs to ordinary binary quantics." Clifford had 

 not at the time of his death succeeded in effecting this, 

 and it required a man like Kempe who was well versed 

 in the rapidly growing theory of invariants to accom- 

 pHsh it. 



In 1894-96 Kempe was president of the London 

 Mathematical Society. In his valedictory address he 

 dealt in a thoughtful and learned manner with the 

 question of defining the subject matter of mathematical 

 science. He finally suggests the statement, " Mathe- 

 matics is the science by which we investigate the 

 characteristics of any subject matter of thought which 

 are due to the conception that it consists of a number of 

 differing and non-differing individuals and pluralities." 

 Here we can trace the influence of his studies of mathe- 

 matical form. He always tried to behold the objects 

 of his thoughts in their lowest terms freed so far as 

 possible from all extraneous matter, and it is greatly 

 to be regretted that, shortly after vacating the chair, 

 he became so busy with the duties thrown upon him by 

 his acceptance of the position of chancellor to several 

 dioceses that his direct contributions to science, from 

 which much might have accrued, came to an end. 



Indirectly, however, Kempe was for the remaining 

 years of the greatest service to science. Those which 

 he rendered to the Royal Society as treasurer have 

 been described elsewhere. It must be added that from 

 that position he was ex officio treasurer of the National 

 Physical Laboratory from its foundation until April 

 1918, and he was able to do much for that great institu- 

 tion and for its director and executive committee. 

 He never failed to attend particularly the finance 

 committee, and was always fully informed as to the 

 details of finance. His help and advice, often sought, 

 was given ungrudgingly, and it may be said that it was 

 owing largely to him that the funds necessary for 

 maintaining and developing the laboratories were 

 obtained. In the scientific life of the country he took 

 a notable position. He was universally popular and 

 respected. P. A. M. 



Sir Wm. Phipson Beale, Bart., K.C. 



Sir William Beale died at Dorking while on a visit 



to friends, on Thursday April 13, at the ripe age of 



eighty- two, in full possession of his faculties. His 



\ remains were cremated at Golders-green on April 19 ; 



a service in his memory was held in Lincoln's Inn 



NO. 2740, VOL. 109] 



Chapel on April 26. His qualities had endeared him to 

 a wide circle of intimates, in scientific, legal and political 

 society, by whom his loss will be deeply mourned. 



Beale's early training was that of a chemist, the 

 intention being that he should enter an ironworks at 

 Rotherham in which his family was interested. He 

 made a beginning in the laboratory of Mr. Hill, a well- 

 known consulting chemist in Birmingham ; he then 

 studied in Heidelberg and Freiberg, finally in Paris. 

 At Heidelberg he was brought into contact with a 

 number of chemists who afterwards became well-known 

 — Matthiesen, Mond, Roscoe, Russell and others. 



After but a short stay in the ironworks, Beale turned 

 his attention to the law as offering better prospects ; 

 he entered Lincoln's Inn in 1867. Throughout his life, 

 however, he retained his scientific interests and long 

 acted as honorary legal adviser to the Chemical Society. 

 He was one of the most popular and active members of 

 the now defunct B club, a club of chemists whose doings 

 have been chronicled by Dr. A. Scott in one of his 

 Presidential addresses to the Chemical Society. At 

 Freiberg Beale became interested in mineralogy and 

 crystallography. When, in later years, the subject was 

 developed and he desired to modernise his knowledge, 

 I was able to hand him over to William Pope, 

 then active as demonstrator of crystallography in my 

 department at the Central Technical College ; they 

 contracted a firm friendship. Later on Beale even 

 wrote a treatise on the subject, in which he put forward 

 an original graphic method of presenting the facts of 

 crystal symmetry. He was many years Treasurer and 

 finally President of the Mineralogical Society. He also 

 took an active interest in the Royal Institution. 



Beale entered Parliament, after several ineffective 

 attempts at Birmingham, as Liberal member for South 

 Ayrshire, in 1906, retaining his seat until he resigned in 

 19 18. He enjoyed a high reputation in legal and 

 political circles, on account of the breadth and accuracy 

 of his knowledge and his wonderfully balanced sane 

 judgment. Of late years he spent much of his time, 

 always surrounded by friends, at his Scotch home, 

 near Barrhill in Ayrshire, most beautifully placed on an 

 open grouse moor in sight of the Galloway Cauldron, 

 Merrick, the highest peak in South Scotland, being a 

 prominent feature in the view. Geikie's " The Ancient 

 Volcanoes of Great Britain " was not infrequently 

 taken down from his shelves. H. E. A. 



Sir a. p. Gould. 

 Sir Alfred Pearce Gould, whose death at the age 

 of seventy years we announced last week, had been a 

 member of the honorary staff of the Middlesex Hospital 

 since 1882, and was a consulting surgeon at the time of 

 his death. He was a Fellow of the Royal College of 

 Surgeons and a Master of Surgery at the University of 

 London, of which he was Dean of the Faculty of 

 Medicine 1912-16, and Vice-Chancellor 1916-17. His 

 publications include the " Elements of Surgical 

 Diagnosis," which went into five editions, and the 

 Bradshaw Lecture on Cancer (1910). He was joint 

 author of the " International Text-Book of Surgery." 

 Though a surgeon of wide interests. Sir A. P. Gould 

 devoted much work to the study of the clinical treat- 

 ment of cancer, and was early in recognising the valuable 



