WILLIAM ROBERT GROVE, an English lawyer and physicist, was born at 

 Swansea, July 14, 1811. He graduated at Oxford in 1834, and during the 

 next five years was Professor of Natural Philosophy at the London Insti- 

 tution. Professor Grove is a rare example of the ability which has achieved 

 a distinguished eminence in different fields of effort. While pursuing with 

 marked success the profession of an advocate, he has devoted his leisure to 

 original scientific researches, and obtained a high distinction both as a dis- 

 coverer and a philosophic writer upon scientific subjects. In 1852 he was 

 made Queen's Counsel, and afterwards Vice-President of the Royal Society. 

 He is the inventor of the powerful galvanic battery known by his name, and 

 his chief researches have been in the field of electricity. Many of his ex- 

 perimental results are referred to in the following pages, which will also 

 attest his high position among the founders of the new philosophy of 

 forces. 



