May 20, 1 897 J 



NATURE 



57 



organisms which contribute largely to form some palaeozoic 

 limestones. He has likewise contributed largely to our knowledge 

 of the structure and fossils of the paUvozoic rocks of the Lake 

 District of the North of England by his " Essay on the Geology 

 of Cumberland and Westmoreland," 1868 ; " On the Strata and 

 their Fossil Contents between the Borrowdale Series and the 

 Con iston Flags" ((^Mar/. yisw;-//. Geol. 6'of., 1867), jointly with 

 Prof. Harkness ; " Additional Observations on the Geology of 

 the Lake District " (ibid., 1866) ; " Relations between the Skid- 

 daw Slates and the Green Slates and Porphyries of the Lake 

 District" (C^o/. Ma,^., 1869);. "On the Lower Portion of the 

 Green Slates and Porphyries of the Lake District" (Quart, 

 foum. Geol. Soc, 1871); "On the Occurrence of a New 

 Fossiliferous Horizon in the Ordovician Rocks of the Lake 

 District" (Geol. Mag., 1888, conjointly with J. E. Marr) ; 

 "On the Stockdale Series of the Lake District" (Quart, 

 lourii. Geol. Soc, 1888, conjointly with J. E. Marr) ; " On the 

 Cross Fell Inlier " (tbid., 1891, jointly with J. E. Marr). Prof. 

 Nicholson was awarded the Lyell Medal by the Council of the 

 (Jeological Society in 1888, "as a mark of appreciation of his 

 valual)le researches among the older palteozoic rocks, both in 

 the Old and the New World, and of his continued and patient 

 in%-estigations into the organisation of some of those obscure 

 forms of life which abounded at the period of the deposition of 

 those rocks" . . . " his researches have given him a high place 

 among Paleontologists," whilst as a teacher and lecturer he is 

 most successful. 



John Millar Thomson, 



F.R.S.E., F.LC. Secretary of the Chemical Society. Pro- 

 fessor of Chemistry and Lecturer on Photography, King's Col- 

 lege. Professor of Chemistry, Queen's College, London. 

 Author of the following original papers: — "The Composition 

 and Properties of Ancient Glass from Tombs in Cyprus" (Proc. 

 Phil. Soc, Glasgow, 1870); "The Composition of certain 

 Double Salts of Nickel and Cobalt in their relation to Dichroism " 

 (Brit. Assoc Rept., 1877) ; "Action of Isomorphous Salts on 

 Supersaturated Solutions of other Salts" (Journ. Chein. Soc. 

 1879) ; "Action of Constituent Salts on Supersaturated Solu- 

 tions of Double Salts and Mixtures" (ibid., 1882). Author of 

 the following published lectures and papers ; — " The Position of 

 Chemistry in a Technical Education " (Journ. Soc of Arts, 

 1878); "Solution and Crystallisation" (Glasgow Science 

 Lecture Association, 1879) ; "The Composition and Properties 

 of certain Pigments " (Cantor Lectures, Journ. Soc. of Arts, 

 1885); "Suspended Crystallisation" (Proc Koy. Inst., 

 1886); "The Chemistry of Putrefaction and Antiseptics" 

 (Cantor Lectures, Journ. Soc. of Arts, 1887}. Distinguished 

 as a It cturer and teacher in Chemistry. 



Frederick Thomas Trouton, 



Sc.D. (Dubl.), M.A. Assistant to Erasmus Smith's Professor 

 of Natural Philosophy in the University of DuV)lin. Teacher of 

 Experimental Physics. Discovered the law connecting the latent 

 heat of vaporisation and molecular weights of bodies known as 

 " Trouton's law " and experimentally determined the directions 

 of vibration of electric and magnetic force in plane polarised 

 light. He has made other important observations on the phase 

 of secondary waves and on the influence of the size of the 

 reflector in Hertz's experiment. Author of: — " On Molecular 

 Latent Heat" (Phil. Mag., vol. xviii. ) ; " Repetition of Hertz's 

 Experiments and Determination of the Direction of the Vibra- 

 tions of Light" (Nature, vol. xxxix.); "Experiments on 

 Electromagnetic Radiation, including some on the Phase of 

 Secondary Waves" (Nature, vol. xl. ) ; "Multiple Resonance 

 obtained with Hertz's vibrations" (Nature, vol. xli.); "On 

 the Acceleration of Secondary Electromagnetic Waves " ( Phil. 

 Mag., vol. xxix.) ; " The Influence of the Size of Reflector in 

 Hertz's Experiment" (Phil. Mag., vol. xxxii.); "Some Ex- 

 periments to Determine Wave Velocity in certain Dielectrics " 

 (Rept. Brit. Assoc, 1890) ; " On Thermo-Electric Currents in 

 Single Conductors" (Proc. Roy. Dubl. .'^oc, 1886) ; " On Tem- 

 porary Thermo-currents in Iron" {Rept. Brit. Assoc, 1889); 

 " On the Motion imder Gravity of Fluid Bubbles through 

 Vertical Columns of Liquid of a Different Density " (Proc Roy. 

 Soc, vol. liv.) ; " On the Motion of a Body near Points of Un- 

 stable Equilibrium and on the same when capable of Internal 

 Vibration " (/Vor. Roy. Dubl. Soc, 1888); "On a convenient 

 Method of obtaining any required Electrical Potential for Use in 

 Laboratory Teaching" (ibid.) ; " On the Control Supply Pipes 



NO. 1438. VOL. 56] 



have on Reeds" (ibid.) ; " A Coefficient of Abrasion as an Abso- 

 lute Standard of Hardness" (AV//. Brit. Assoc, 1880); "On 

 the Use of a Permanently Magneti.sed Core in a Telephone " 

 (Phil. Mag.,\o\. xxxiv.) ; "On Ohm's Law in Electrolytes" 

 (Rept. Brit. Assoc, 1887-88), jointly with Prof. Fitzgerald ; " A 

 Method of Determining the Specific Induction Capacity of 

 Dielectrics" (Phil. Mag., vol. xxxiii.), jointly with Mr. W. E. 

 Lilly. 



Herbert Hall Turner, 



M.A., B.Sc. Formerly Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. 

 Savilian Professor of Astronomy, Oxford. Secretary to the 

 Royal Astronomical Society. Late Chief Assistant at the Royal 

 Observatory, Greenwich, 1884-94. Author of various papers, 

 among which may be mentioned : " On the Correction of the 

 Equilibrium Theory of Tides for the Continents" (with Prof G. 

 H. Darwin) (Proc Roy. Soc, vol. I.) ; " Report of Observations 

 of the Total Solar Eclipse of August 29, 1886 " (Phil. Trans.) % 

 " On Mr. Edgeworth's Method of Reducing Observations relat- 

 ing to Several Quantities (Phil. Mag., vol. xxiv.) ; "On Mr. 

 Marth's Intersects " (J/^mM/j/ Notices, vol. xlvi.) ; "Observa- 

 tions for Coincidence of Collimator at Royal Observatory, 

 Greenwich " (ibid., vols. xlvi. and liii.) ; " On the Variations of 

 Level and Azimuth of the Transit Circle at Royal Observatory, 

 Greenwich" (ibid., vol. xlvii.) ; " On the Longitude of Paris'* 

 (ibid., vol. li. ); "On Stellar Photography " («(^/(ar. , vols. xlix. 

 and lix.) ; "On the R.-D. Discordance" (ibid., vols, liii., liv., 

 and Memoirs Roy. Astron. Soc, vol. li.) ; "On New Forms of 

 Levels" (Monthly Notices, vol. lii.) ; "Comparison of the Cape 

 (1880) and Greenwich (1880) Star Catalogues" (yl/^wo?>j A'oy. 

 Astron. Soc, vol. li.); "On the Reduction of Measures of 

 Photographic Plates" (Monthly Notices, vol. liv.). 



EDWARD JAMES STONE, F.R.S. 

 'HP HE distinguished astronomer, whose name stands at 

 -»■ the head of this notice, and whose loss will be 

 regretted in many scientific circles, played a very pro- 

 minent part in the history of astronomy during the 

 last forty years. Although he took an active, and 

 often a foremost, place in all the astronomical problems 

 that have aroused attention during this period, he 

 was more conspicuously attached to the astronomy 

 of position, and it was by his devotion to meridian ob- 

 servations that his reputation was mainly won. The 

 early training which he received under Airy, at Green- 

 wich, whither he went on leaving Cambridge in i860, 

 contributed to this choice. At that time the results ob- 

 tainable by photography and spectroscopy were quite 

 undeveloped, and the lines on which the Greenwich 

 Observatory then worked were such as to ensure a 

 devotion to accuracy, and the appreciation of the value 

 of star catalogues. All who have since had occasion 

 to use the star places which Mr. Stone published, 

 whether from the Cape, or from the Radcliffe Observatory, 

 have reason to be grateful for that training, which, re- 

 sulting in his adherence to the methods that he early 

 acquired, led to the production of such admirable 

 work. 



In connection with his meridian observations, Mr. 

 Stone had, from time to time, published memoirs on the 

 value of the constants of nutation and refraction, which, 

 though they have not displaced the values assigned by 

 other astronomers, have yet testified to his industry and 

 illustrated his power of conducting a searching discussion 

 into large masses of observations, possessing varying 

 degrees of accuracy. He also largely identified him- 

 self with inquiries into the proper motions of stars, the 

 systematic differences between stellar catalogues, the 

 motion of the solar system in space — all questions which 

 demand long numerical calculations, and the values of 

 whose final results depend upon the maintenance of 

 rigorous accuracy in the computations. 



In striving to estimate the loss to science caused by 

 the death of the Radcliffe Observer, we give prominence 

 to his meridian work. We recognise the fact that the old 



