SKETCH OF SIR JOSEPH HENRY GILBERT. 123 



way to distinguish Mr. Gilbert's share from that of his colleague 

 " in the remarkable work which has, with so much skill and pa- 

 tience, been so long carried on, and, indeed, they know that you 

 would not wish that they should ; but they desire to say to you, 

 as they have said to him, that the society is justly proud of your 

 labors. They are glad to bear in mind that the society has been 

 the channel through which most of your more important results 

 have been made known, that for more than thirty years you have 

 been enrolled among the number of its fellows, and they believe 

 they can say that the society has always given you such aid and 

 support as lay in its power. They reflect with satisfaction that 

 the researches at Rothamsted have contributed in a remarkable 

 manner to the advancement of that branch of natural knowledge 

 with which they deal, and your connection with the society gives 

 the president and council, they venture to think, the right to feel 

 something like a paternal pride in the success of an undertaking 

 of which the jubilee marks a stage." The joint address to the 

 two of the Chemical Society recognized the long adherence to 

 the same plan of experiment as evidence of the skill displayed in 

 its inception and as giving to the work its peculiar value, and 

 continued : " While affording guidance to the agriculturist, your 

 researches have elicited information which will ever serve as the 

 foundation of a truly scientific knowledge of the correlation of 

 plant growth and manurial constituents of the soil, and will be 

 of the utmost value in all discussions of the chemistry of plant 

 life. Your researches on the feeding of animals, in like manner, 

 are not only of practical importance, but also shed much light on 

 the processes of animal life." But of even far greater value was 

 the example which their single-minded devotion to the cause of 

 scientific truth and research had afforded to the world. A con- 

 gratulatory address was received from the Socie'te' Nationale 

 d' Agriculture de France. 



Sir John Lawes, being called to speak, said that when two per- 

 sons were joined in marriage they could not part, because they 

 were bound by solemn ties ; but the case with respect to him- 

 self and Dr. Gilbert was different. Dr. Gilbert could have left 

 him and he could have left Dr. Gilbert at any time during their 

 association. Why had they not done so ? Because they had an 

 immense love of the work they were engaged in. Personally, he 

 had delighted in it from the beginning, and had given as much 

 time to it as he could consistently with other duties ; but Dr. Gil- 

 bert had made it the work of his life. He had been at work not 

 only when he was at home, but had spent what were called his 

 holidays in visiting other countries and places, in putting himself 

 into communication with other bodies, so that he might make his 

 own work more valuable to those at home. 



