84 



NATURE 



\Nov. 26, if 



whole rather extended and confirmed — the doctrines of the 

 early editions of the " Human Physiology" in regard to 

 this subject, so that he was able only a few years since to 

 separate this portion of the work and issue it as 

 a separate book, the " Mental Physiology," in which 

 is contained by far the most complete, consistent, and 

 readable account of the phenomena of mind, and their 

 relation to the actual structure of the brain, which exists. 

 Such topics as Instinct, Mesmerism, Somnambulism, 

 Unconscious Cerebration (his own phrase), &c., are dis- 

 cussed in a masterly way, and with an abundance of illus- 

 tration and knowledge which renders the work one of the 

 greatest value even to those who may differ there and there 

 from its theoretical conclusions. 



About the period of his removal to London Dr. Car- 

 penter began to occupy himself with the minute study of 

 the structure of the calcareous shells of the Mollusca — 

 being led thereto by a desire to compare the results of 

 the operation of living matter upon distinctly mineral 

 compounds (such as carbonate of lime), by way of com- 

 parison and in illustration of the rapidly accumulating 

 knowledge of cell-structure in the softer parts of living 

 things. This study, which resulted directly in some 

 valuable contributions to our knowledge of the structure 

 of shells, shown by these researches to be far more com- 

 plex than had hitherto been supposed, led on the one 

 hand to Dr. Carpenter's permanent identification with 

 the pursuit of research with the microscope, and on the 

 other hand to those admirable investigations of the struc- 

 ture and law of growth of the shells of the minute 

 Protozoic Foraminifera which constitute his most weighty 

 contribution to the special literature of science. His 

 microscopic studies bore fruit in the publication of " The 

 Microscope and its Revelations." the sixth edition of 

 which was issued in 18S1. The studies on the shells of 

 Foraminifera were continued throughout his life, being 

 published in four memoirs in the PSiilosophical Transac- 

 tions, and in a richly illustrated monograph produced by 

 the Ray Society in 1S62, whilst the last of his memoirs 

 in the Philosopliital Transactions was that on Orbitolites 

 bearing date so late as 18S2. It was on this subject that 

 Dr. Carpenter was busy at the time of his death, having 

 during the past few years accumulated a wealth of mate- 

 rial and drawings in support of his contention that the 

 Eozoon canadcnsc discovered by Logan in the Laurentian 

 rocks of Canada exhibits the distinctive structure of the 

 shell-substance of the higher Foraminifera. There is 

 reason to hope that the memoir which he had nearly 

 completed on this subject may yet be brought by his son. 

 Dr. Herbert Carpenter, into a finished form and pub- 

 lished. 



At the age of forty (1S53), what with his larger and 

 smaller books, his original researches, his lectures on 

 medical jurisprudence at LTniversity College, and numerous 

 popular lectures on scientific topics. Dr. Carpenter's life 

 was unusually laborious and productive. 



In 1S56 he was appointed Registrar of the University 

 of London, and for twenty-three years administered the 

 onerous duties of that office in such a way as to contribute 

 in no small degree to the success of the University, and 

 above all to the maintenance of the high character of its 

 degrees and the ample recognition of the study of natural 

 science for which the University is now distinguished. 



He was able now to give a larger amount of time than 

 formerly to his original investigations, and, in his summer 

 holidays at Arran and elsewhere, commenced, amongst 

 other studies, those researches on the structure and de- 

 velopment of the beautiful little feather-star, which were 

 from time to time published in the Philosopiiical Trans- 

 actions, and led to his association with Wyville Thomson, 

 and thus to the deep-sea explorations of the Liglitning, 

 and subsequently of the Cliallenger. 



Carpenter's memoirs on Comatula give a very full and 

 beautifully illustrated account of the structure of the 



skeleton of the feather-star, but for many years the view 

 which he entertained with regard to the nature of the 

 axial cord which runs through the segments of the arm- 

 skeleton of that animal was regarded by all other ob- 

 servers (with scarcely an exception) as erroneous. Dr. 

 Carpenter considered these cords as nerve-cords, and 

 after his retirement from official life he made a special 

 visit (only five years or so ago) to the marine laboratory 

 erected by Dr. Dohrn at Naples, in order to test his 

 views by the repetition, on an extensive scale, of experi- 

 ments which had already appeared convincing to his 

 mind. These experiments, and others since carried out 

 by younger naturalists, have at length fairly established 

 the view for the truth of which the veteran observer had 

 long contended. 



The deep-seaexplorations which Dr. Carpenter, assisted 

 by Prof Wyville Thomson, arranged, and for which he 

 succeeded in obtaining the aid of ships of the Royal 

 Navy, were designed not merely to search for organisms 

 in the great depths of the ocean, but especially to study 

 the ocean currents both deep and superficial, Dr. Car- 

 penter having a strong desire to enter upon the explana- 

 tion of the great physical phenomena presented by the 

 ocean. He himself took part in the earlier expeditions 

 in 1 868 and subsequent years, and though unable to leave 

 the ties which bound him to home, so as to join the long 

 Cliallcngcr Expedition, yet he closely watched the results 

 then obtained, and embodied the whole of his observa- 

 tions, and those reported from the Challenger, in some 

 extremely suggestive and important memoirs and lectures 

 on ocean circulation. 



In 1879 he retired from the Registrarship of the Uni- 

 versity of London with a well-earned pension, and was at 

 once chosen as a member of the Senate of that body. 

 He now devoted himself with unabated vigour to the 

 prosecution of his studies on Foraminifera and on Coma- 

 tula, and to more theoretical matters, such as ocean- 

 currents, and the explanation of the frauds of spirit- 

 mediums. Though released from the duties of office, he 

 was still a constant attendant at the Senate of the Uni- 

 versity, he rarely missed a meeting of the Royal Society 

 or one of the annual gatherings of the British Associa- 

 tion, and, besides undertaking the administration of the 

 Gilchrist trust, delivered many lectures in all parts of the 

 country himself — both independently and as an emissary 

 of the trustees. The scheme of lectures and scholarships 

 instituted by the Gilchrist trustees, which is effecting an 

 important educational work in natural science among 

 classes of society excluded from regular University teach- 

 ing, is Dr. Carpenter's work. He wrote at this time in the 

 interest of the public health some admirable articles on 

 vaccination, as in earlier life (1849) he had from a similar 

 point of view treated the subject of alcoholic liquors, and 

 had urged the arguments for total abstinence. When past 

 seventy years of age he did not shrink from a journey to 

 the United States, where he spoke and lectured with un- 

 flagging vigour. The last public movement in which he 

 took an active part was the foundation of the Marine 

 Biological Association, of which he was a Vice-President, 

 and which is about to carry out, by means of its laboratory 

 on Plymouth Sound, a suggestion which is traceable to 

 his own proposition for the thorough exploration and 

 study of Pililford Haven. 



The abundant and noble achievements of Dr. Car- 

 penter's public and scientific career did not pass without 

 recognition in the form of awards and titles. He received 

 in 1 86 1 one of the Royal medals awarded by the Council 

 of the Royal Society, and in 1S83 the Lyell medal of the 

 Geological Society. In 1S71 he was made an honorary 

 LL.D. of the University of Edinburgh, and in 1872 he 

 was President of the British Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science, when it met at Brighton. In 1873 he 

 was elected Corresponding Member of the Institute of 

 France, and on his retirement from his official position 



