2.^,6 



NATURE 



[January 3, 1901 



water in which the cotton was coiled, and the other glass 

 positively, the thread crept out of its glass into the other, 

 while a stream of water passed in the opposite direction. 

 This and other evidence led Lord Armstrong to con- 

 clude that an electric current consists of a negative 

 stream flowing in one direction surrounded by a sheath 

 of positive stream flowing in the opposite direction. The 

 theory presents difficulties which have not been over- 

 come, but neglecting it altogether, the photographs pub- 

 lished to illustrate it are the most remarkable examples 

 of electric discharges ever produced. 



To Lord Armstrong the world is indebted for the 

 development of the hydraulic machinery which to-day 

 plays so important a part in the business of our docks 

 and large railway stations. He first invented the 

 hydraulic crane, and, between 1845 and 1850, the accumu- 

 lator by which an artificial head of water is substituted 

 for the natural head. By this invention hydraulic 

 machinery was rendered available in almost every situa- 

 tion. Being very convenient where power is required at 

 intervals and for short periods, it has come into extensive 

 use for working cranes and hoists, opening and shutting 

 dock gates, turning capstans, raising lifts, &c., and in 

 many cases has procured important economies, both as 

 regards time and money, at harbours and railway stations 

 where large amounts of traffic have to be dealt with. In 

 the Navy, again, its applications are almost infinite in 

 number. In awarding the Albert Medal to Lord Arm- 

 strong in 1873, the Society of Arts recognised the benefits 

 which have accrued to manufactures through his develop- 

 ment of the hydraulic transmission of power. 



For the manufacture of hydraulic machinery the 

 Elswick Engine Works was founded, and there, in 1854, 

 was constructed the first rifled ordnance gun that bears 

 the name of Armstrong. Its trials were so satisfactory 

 as regards range and accuracy that it was soon adopted 

 by the Government, and Armstrong was appointed en- 

 gineer of rifled ordnance, being made C.B. and receiving 

 the honour of knighthood. Under his supervision some 

 3500 of these guns were turned out between 1859 and 

 1863, and England became the possessor of the best 

 armament then in existence. 



. In 1863, Sir William Armstrong resigned his official 

 appointment, and rejoined the Elswick Manufacturing 

 Company, and in the same year he was president of the 

 meeting of the British Association at Newcastle-upon- 

 Tyne. In that capacity he drew attention to the gradual 

 lessening of our supply of coal, and the prospects of 

 exhaustion of our coalfields. The discussion suggested 

 by this address led to the appointment of a Royal Com- 

 mission to inquire into all the circumstances connected 

 with the national coal supply, and he was nominated a 

 member of it. The better utilisation of natural forces 

 was a subject to which he again called attention in his 

 presidential address to the mechanical science section of 

 the Association at York in 1881, when he commented 

 upon the wastefulness of the steam engine, and discussed 

 the question whether its difficulties might be avoided by 

 resorting to electrical methods of obtaining energy. 



Lord Armstrong received many honours. Cambridge 

 made him a LL.D. in 1862 and Oxford a D.C.L. in 1870. 

 He was president of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 

 1882, and he more than once served the same office in 

 the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. An original 

 member of the Iron and Steel Institute, he was in 1891 

 awarded the Bessemer Medal by that body, and the large 

 number of foreign decorations which were bestowed upon 

 him attested the reputation which his work won for him 

 abroad. His presidency of the Newcastle Literary and 

 Philosophical Society was the occasion for several note- 

 worthy addresses, and he wrote a number of articles, 

 pamphlets and short treatises on scientific subjects. His 

 public spirit and philanthropy are justly appreciated in 



NO. 1627, VOL. 63] 



Newcastle. A lecture hall for the Literary and Philo- 

 sophical Society, an operating theatre for the Infirmary, 

 thousands of pounds towards the restoration of a fine old 

 steeple, other thousands to the Children's Hospital, 

 three-quarters of a 20,000/. bridge across Benton Valley, 

 10,000/. to the Natural History Museum, a Mechanics' 

 Institute, and schools for the Elswick men, a banqueting 

 hall, public parks — these were among his gifts to the 

 city. 



For these works, as for his contributions to the pro- 

 gress of science and industry, his name stands high 

 among the great men of the century. 



WILLIAM POLE, F.R.S. 



IWTR. WILLIAM POLE.F.R.S., whose death occurred 

 -'■*-*- on December 30, at the age of eighty-six, was 

 distinguished both as an engineer and as a musician. 

 He was born in Birmingham in 1814, and, after follow- 

 ing the profession of engineering for some years, was 

 appointed professor of civil engineering in Elphinstone 

 College, Bombay. In 1847 he returned to London, 

 devoting his chief attention to the mechanical branch of 

 his profession, and soon became a recognised authority 

 on engineering matters Between 1859 and 1867 he was 

 professor of civil engineering at University College, 

 London, and lecturer at the Royal Engineer Establish- 

 ment, Chatham. He served on the Council of the 

 Institution of Civil Engmeers from 1871 to 1875, i^^ 

 which year he was appointed honorary secretary. 



Mr. Pole's services to the Government in carrying out 

 scientific work of various kinds were very important. 

 In 1861-1864 he was a member of the committee on iron 

 armour, and from that year till 1885 he was almost con- 

 stantly employed by the Government in one of its 

 departments, bringing the knowledge of an expert to 

 bear on questions differing so widely as the comparative 

 merits of the Whitworth and Armstrong systems of 

 artillery and the gas and water arrangements of the 

 metropolis. He acted as secretary to four Government 

 commissions of inquiry — namely, from 1865 to 1867 to 

 the Royal Commission on Railways, from 1867 to 1869 

 to the Royal Commission on Water Supply, from 1882 to 

 1884 to the Royal Commission appointed to inquire into 

 the pollution of the Thames, and in 1885 to a committee 

 on the science museums at South Kensington. From 



1 87 1 to 1883 he was consulting engineer for the Imperial 

 railways of Japan, and on his retirement the Mikado 

 decorated him with the Imperial Order of the Rising 

 Sun. 



In June, 1861, Mr. Pole was elected a Fellow of 

 the Royal Society of London, and was vice-president in 

 1876 and 1889. He was elected into the Royal Society 

 of Edinburgh in 1877, and into the Athenaeum Club as a 

 man of "distinguished eminence in science," in 1864. 

 He published in 1844 a quarto treatise on the steam 

 engine ; in 1848 a translation of a German work on the 

 same subject ; in 1864 and 1870 " Scientific Chapters in 

 the Lives of Robert Stephenson and I. K. Brunei" ; in 



1872 a treatise on iron ; in 1877 he wrote the life of 

 Sir William Fairbairn, and in 1888 that of Sir William 

 Siemens. He was also the author of a well-known 

 scientific work on the game of whist, and contributed a 

 number of papers to scientific journals and periodical 

 literature. 



Mr. Pole was skilled both in the theory and prac- 

 tice of music. He took the Oxford degree of Bachelor 

 in i860, and in 1867 that of Doctor of Music. He 

 also held for some years the office of examiner in 

 music at the University of London. He was the author 

 of "The Philosophy of Music," "The Story of Mozart's 

 Requiem," and other compositions. 



