26 



KNOWLEDGE. 



[Febkuart 1, 1895. 



from chemical action within the film. In 1886 Mr. 

 Eanyard made a series of comparatively roiigh experiments, 

 the results of which appeared to show that the intensity of 

 photographic action varies directly as the brightness of the 

 object photographed, and directly as the time of exposure. 



In 1878 Jlr. Kanyard went, at his own expense, to 

 Colorado, to observe the total eclipse of July 20th, taking 

 with him a large camera of thirteen inches aperture and 

 six feet two inches focal length, with the view of taking 

 photographs of the corona on a larger scale than any 

 hitherto obtained. He joined Prof. Young's party at 

 Cherry Creek, near Denver, and was successful in observing 

 the eclipse, though, owing to an accident during the 

 exposures, he only obtained two photographs of the corona, 

 and these of too short an exposure to show any corona 

 beyond six or seven minutes from the limb. He 

 also made spectroscopic and polariscopic observations. 

 The account of the expedition is given in Vol. XLVI. of 

 the Mtmoirs of the Eoyal Astronomical Society. In 1882 

 he went to Sohag, m Upper Egypt, and observed and 

 photographed the total solar eclipse of May 17th, but his 

 observations were never published. 



In 1888 his friend Mr. R. A. Proctor died, leaving his 

 great work, " Old and New Astronomy," still incomplete. 

 This work Mr. Eanyard undertook to finish. He revised, 

 completed, and published the chapters on the planets, and, 

 as Mr. Proctor had written nothing of the section treating 

 of the universe of stars, the distribution of the nebulfe, 

 and the construction of the Milky Way, the chapters on 

 these subjects are from Mr. Eanyard 's pen alone. They 

 are undoubtedly some of the most original and valuable in 

 the book, which was finally issued in its complete form in 

 1892. It was characteristic of his unselfish and generous 

 spirit that he should thus devote years of hard work to 

 sustain the reputation of his friend, and with no thought 

 of reward for himself. But he always rejoiced in another's 

 success, and felt the labour to be no sacrifice. 



Mr. Eanyard succeeded Mr. Proctor as Editor of 

 Knowledge, and our readers know with how much zeal 

 and ability this joui-nal has been conducted by him. He 

 performed a great service in reproducing the long series of 

 celestial photographs which have appeared in our pages, 

 thus placing within the reach of all some of the results of 

 the achievements of Dr. Eoberts, Prof. Barnard, Mr. 

 Russell, and many others. His own original contributions 

 upon the constitution of the heavens — the Milky Way, 

 nebulae, star clusters, the moon, &c. — have been of great 

 value, while his acute but always kindly criticisms upon 

 the contributions of others have been a welcome feature. 

 To his papers in this journal he devoted his most earnest 

 thought, and in many of them may be found the expression 

 of his mature views upon the intricate and perplexing 

 problems with which he dealt. We may particularly 

 specify his series of articles entitled " What is a Nebula ?" 

 and " What is a Star Cluster '? " — profusely illustrated by 

 reproductions of photographs. He himself considered as 

 his most important contribution to these questions his 

 investigations on the density of nebulse, and the conclusion 

 at which he arrived, that the density of the Orion Nebula 

 cannot exceed the ten thousand millionth of the density of 

 atmospheric air at the sea level. He recognized a close 

 analogy between irregular nebulffi and star clusters, and 

 was strongly convinced that in both these structures the 

 matter is ejected from the centre, mostly into a resisting 

 medium, and is not condensing towards the centre, as 

 assumed by Laplace's theory. Mr. Ranyard's work on 

 Knowledge went on almost to the last, and probably his 

 latest scientific writing was a note to Mr. Gore's letter in 

 our November number. 



In his work on solar physics, which had always appealed 

 strongly to him, he was especially assiduous in his study 

 of the details of the corona, and was firmly convinced that 

 their forms bore witness to matter ejected from the sun 

 into a resisting medium, though not, of course, into an 

 atmosphere in any sense comparable with our own. He 

 carried the experience derived from his solar studies into 

 his work on stars and nebulae, and was always quick to 

 perceive coronal analogies in the details of their structure. 

 He was very desirous to enter upon the new fields of 

 research opened by Hale and Deslandres, and had a 

 spectro-heliograph constructed, which he lent to Prof. Hale 

 for his expedition to Mount Etna, as the state of his own 

 health did not permit him to accompany his friend, as he 

 had intended. 



Mr. Eanyard was an excellent linguist, and through the 

 whole of his scientific life maintained intimate relations 

 with most of the leading astronomers in Europe and 

 America. In his earlier life he was the friend of Argelander, 

 Donati, Secchi, and Young, and afterwards of Barnard, 

 Hale, Max Wolf, and many others. 



In politics Mr. Eanyard was an ardent Individualist, and 

 was a warm supporter of the efforts made by the Hon. 

 Auberon Herbert and others in favour of greatly restricting 

 the sphere of Government interference with private activity. 

 Though taking but little interest in party politics, his 

 intense conviction of the evil of socialistic legislation led 

 him naturally to conservatism. He was much impressed 

 with the evil results arising from the growing tendency of 

 men of education and culture to keep aloof from municipal 

 affairs, and to neglect the performance of civic duties. 

 His keen interest in all social questions led him, in 1892, 

 to become a candidate for the London Coimty Coimcil. 

 He was returned at the head of the poll for the Holborn 

 division, in which he and his colleague, Mr. Eemnant, 

 represented the Moderate interest. At the Council, Mr. 

 Ranyard's legal knowledge, as well as his earnestness and 

 high character, made him an influential member, and his 

 zeal led him to greatly overtax his strength. In the year 

 ending March, 1893, he had attended every meeting of the 

 Council, and almost every meeting of the various com- 

 mittees and sub-committees of which he was a member. 

 He was especially interested in the Parliamentary and 

 Building Acts Committees, and in the latter he did his 

 most important work in fighting for the new (London) 

 Building Act, which passed the Houses of Parliament last 

 summer. In support of this Bill he appeared and gave 

 evidence before a Select Committee of the House of 

 Commons. 



As far back as last June he was not in his usual health, 

 and began to experience a loss of weight and strength. As 

 months went by, the symptoms became more pronounced : 

 he became steadily weaker, and found increasing difdculty 

 in digestion. Change of air was tried without effect, and 

 the symptoms increased in severity till, in October, the 

 presence of some serious internal disorder was suspected. 

 Medical opinions were, however, not unanimous, and it 

 was not till latterly that the complaint was definitely 

 pronoimced to be an internal cancer. He died after much 

 suffering on December 14th, at the comparatively early 

 age of forty-nine. 



He was always outspoken and fearless in the expression 

 of his opinions, but those most opposed to him were most 

 ready to admit the high sense of duty and absolute 

 conscientiousness by which he was guided. Entirely 

 without self-seeking, always courteous, and ever ready with 

 advice and assistance, he maintained most cordial relations 

 with his coadjutors and correspondents, and his death 

 leaves a gap in the ranks of English amateur astronomers 



