1874 John Evans ; Henry E. Roscoe 41 1 



handiwork of primeval man. But he had many other interests 

 in various departments of scientific enquiry and kept himself 

 in touch with the progress of discovery and invention. He 

 was an excellent man of business, and his capacity in this 

 respect was gratefully acknowledged by his Hertfordshire 

 neighbours, who welcomed him as High Sheriff, Chairman 

 of Quarter Sessions, and Chairman of the County Council. 

 His perspicacity in the transaction of affairs was placed by 

 him whole-heartedly at the service of the Royal Society. He 

 became a Fellow in 1864, and in the course of three years 

 was elected into the Council. He filled this place again a 

 few years later, and in 1878 he was chosen Treasurer. In 

 this responsible office he continued for the long period of 

 twenty years, during which he watched with constant 

 attention over the Society's financial affairs and left them 

 in a sound and flourishing condition. His entry into the 

 Club brought a very charming companion. His invariable 

 courtesy of manner seemed to belong rather to the quiet 

 stateliness of a past generation than to the hurried inter- 

 course of modern life. His conversation, always interesting, 

 showed the breadth of his knowledge and experience. More- 

 over, it was often delightfully witty. He could rapidly 

 throw off impromptu verses in which some passing incident 

 was humorously depicted, and his memory, stored from a 

 wide range of reading, which included the Latin classics, 

 enabled him often to interject a happy quotation. These 

 characteristic features he retained almost unimpaired up 

 to the last, even though the ailment which finally carried 

 him off was gradually sapping his strength and causing him 

 much suffering. He bore this burden bravely to the end, 

 and died on 3ist May 1908 in the 85th year of his age. 



Henry Enfield Roscoe received part of his scientific 

 education at Heidelberg and throughout his life kept up 

 his friendship with the eminent philosophers of Germany. 

 He held the Professorship of Chemistry at the Owens College, 

 Manchester, from 1858 to 1885, and during that long interval 

 he not only sent out into the world scores of well-trained 

 chemists to follow in his footsteps, but carried on original 



