Nov. 26, 1885] 



NATURE 



85 



at the University of London in 1879 he was nominated 

 C.B. 



It is impossible to do justice to Dr. Carpenter's 

 character as a scientific man in a few lines : here no 

 attempt has been made to do more than indicate in 

 something Hke chronological order and connection of 

 subjects the vast amount of work which he accomplished. 



Upon the present writer, whose father was his fellow- 

 student at University College, and who has enjoyed since 

 boyhood the privilege nf his friendship, Dr. Carpenter 

 always produced the most vivid impression of a man 

 of indomitable energy, who had accepted as the highest 

 duty and keenest delight of his life, the promotion, 

 whether by advocacy or by research, of true knowledge. 

 The tenacity and vigour with which he was wont to 

 expound his views on such matters of research as at the 

 time occupied his thoughts, and the importance and 

 respect which he assigned to all genuine research, were 

 evidences of an earnest and just nature which evoked 

 sympathy and esteem in all men of kindred pursuits. 



In reference to Dr. Carpenter's private life and tastes, 

 the following extract from a weekly contemporary states, 

 with the authority of a member of his own family, what 

 might, in its absence, have been here less completely 

 indicated. The journal to which we are thus indebted is 

 an organ of the Unitarian Church, of which body Dr. 

 Carpenter was, throughout life, an active and orthodox 

 member, a fact which may or may not be brought into 

 connection with the fact of his incomplete acceptance of 

 the leading doctrines of Darwinism, though the latter 

 would by no means necessarily follow from the former. 



" He was well versed in literature, and turned for re- 

 freshment in hours of weariness to his favourite Scott. 

 Political memoirs of his own time were read with the 

 keenest relish, for he had early learned from his father. 

 Dr. Lant Carpenter, to take a high view of a citizen's 

 obligations, and the Bristol riots, which he had witnessed, 

 made a life-long impression upon him. A brief sojourn in 

 Italy called forth a susceptibility to the enjoyment of art, 

 which was a surprise even to himself ; and in music, from 

 the time that he had taught himself as a young man to 

 play on the organ, he found unfailing recreation. Nature, 

 likewise, in her vaster as well as her microscopic forms, 

 was for him full of charm and delight, and from every 

 excursion he carried back memories which remained 

 singularly vivid and distinct. In society his immense 

 stores of information, his sympathetic interest in others, 

 his thorough enjoyment of humour though he felt unable 

 to originate it, made him a genial and ever-welcome com- 

 panion, while his friends learned how strong a confidence 

 might be placed in his faithfulness. Many young men 

 found unexpected help and encouragement in him, and 

 he rejoiced when he could open a way to those who were 

 involved in the struggles through which he had himself 

 once passed. The dominant conception of his life — as 

 was fitting in one of Puritan descent — was that of duty. 

 And if this sometimes took austere forms, and led him 

 to frame expectations which others could not always 

 satisfy-, an enlarging experience mellowed his judgment 

 and enabled him to apprehend their position from their 

 point as well as his own. Released from the pressure 

 and strain of earlier life, he was able to give freer play to 

 his rich affections ; and in his own family they only know 

 what they have lost who will never again on earth feel 

 his support as husband and father, brother, and friend." 

 E. Ray Lankester 



WALTER FLIGHT, D.Sc, F.R.S. 



THE close of this year has witnessed the termination 

 of another bright and promising life, ended all too 

 soon for the hopes and expectations of his many friends. 

 Walter Flight was the son of William P. Flight, of 



Winchester, in which city he was born on January 21, 

 1841. He was sent, after a period of pupilage at home, 

 to Oueenwood College, Hampshire, in the days when 

 George Edmondson was head master, and Tyndall and 

 Debus were the teachers of science. From Oueenwood 

 he went to the University of Halle, where, in the labora- 

 tory of Prof. Heintz, he pursued his chemical studies 

 during the winter session of 1863-64. During 1864 and 

 1865 he entered the University of Heidelberg, where, in 

 the laboratories of the celebrated Profs. Bunsen, Kopp, 

 and Kirchhoff, he applied himself early to acquire that 

 thorough knowledge of the various branches of theoreti- 

 cal and practical chemistry, and that marked facility for 

 overcoming experimental difficulties which characterise 

 the practised and careful worker. From Heidelberg 

 Flight passed to the University of Berlin, where he re- 

 mained until 1867, studying and working in Prof. Hof- 

 mann's laboratory, and for a time filling the office of his 

 Secretary and Chemical Assistant. 



Returning to England in 1S67, he graduated D.Sc. in 

 the University of London, and in the following year was 

 appointed by the Senate to the office of Assistant 

 Examiner under Prof. Debus (his former teacher at 

 Oueenwood). On September 5, 1867, Dr. Flight was 

 appointed an Assistant in the Mineralogical Department 

 of the British Museum. Here, under the direction of 

 Prof. Maskelyne, the Keeper of Mineralogy, he com- 

 menced a series of researches into the chemical composi- 

 tion of the mineral constituents of meteorites and the 

 occluded gases they contain. Many of the methods by 

 which he carried out these investigations were originated 

 by him in the course of the research, and displayed in a 

 remarkable degree his skill and ingenuity in chemical 

 manipulation. 



He was shortly after this date appointed Examiner in 

 Chemistry and Physics at the Royal Military Academy, 

 Woolwich, and in 1S76 Examiner to the Royal Military 

 Academy, Cheltenham. 



For several years Dr. Flight served on the Luminous 

 Meteors Committee of the British Association, to which 

 he lent much valuable assistance. 



Between the years 1864 and 1883 he was author of 

 twenty-one original papers, including "A Chapter in the 

 History of Meteorites," which appeared in a succession 

 of twenty-three articles in the Geological Magazine in 

 1875, 1882, and 1883. He was also joint author or con- 

 tributor of results to many other papers, chiefly on the 

 chemical composition of minerals. His important memoir 

 on the Cranbourne, Rowton, and Middlesbrough 

 meteorites was read before the Royal Society in 1882, 

 and he was elected a Fellow in the following year. 



In 1884 he was seized by illness which prostrated his 

 mental powers, and rendered it needful for him to resign 

 his appointment in the British Museum in June last, and 

 notwithstanding every care which medical skill or afiec- 

 tion of friends could devise, he succumbed on November 4, 

 leaving a wife and three young children to deplore his 

 early loss. 



ON RAD LA TION OF HE A T FROM THE SAME 

 SURFACE AT DIFFERENT TEMPERA TURES 



FOR some time past I have been engaged in experi- 

 menting on the radiation of heat from the surfaces 

 of wires in air and in vacuum, and I have obtained 

 results which have been partially communicated in 

 papers to the Royal Society (1S84) and to the British 

 Association at its last two meetings. I am at present 

 preparing to publish further determinations of emissivities 

 in absolute measure. In the meantime, however, I have 

 obtained a result of some importance which may be 

 of interest to the readers of Nature. 



Stefan has given a law, which is well known, as to the 



