i8o 



NATURE 



\Dec. 24, I i 



He had not seen Mr. Burstow's clutch mentioned by Mr. 

 Boys. 



In speaking of the loss of power due to perpetually 

 bending steel driving bands he did not refer to the very 

 thin bands of the Otto, but to driving bands with holes 

 to fit over pins some four or five times as thick. 



The Chairman considered it an open question whether 

 the path of a bicyclist were really wavy as theory 

 seemed to show. He had often watched a bicyclist and 

 it was almost impossible to believe that he did not travel 

 in a straight path. He thought this question worthy of 

 more attention. He had heard it asserted that no 

 advantage could be gained by the use of artificial cycles 

 over natural legs, but it must be remembered that 

 legs were implements fitted for other purposes besides 

 running, such as jumping and climbing. Again, no one 

 supposed that a horse could carry on his back such a 

 load as he could easily draw in a carnage on a rond : 

 here the extra weight of the carriage corresponded to the 

 addition of the bicycle. 



As in many other industries, bicycle and tricycle 

 construction depended to a large e.\tent for its success 

 upon the perfection of many details of construction ; as 

 instances of important details he referred to rubber, steel 

 wire, steel stampings, and driving-gear. Having made 

 some remarks on the necessity of good roads he expressed 

 the opinion that in time cycle ways might be laid down 

 with advantage. 



It was a mistake to suppose that cycling was only 

 suitable for the young and active ; people of all ages and 

 conditions might enjoy the benefits of the wheel. The 

 advantage of a sound machine to a labouring man, or of 

 a hand-driven machine to a lame man, was inestimable, 

 while invalids could even enjoy a run to the seaside in a 

 Coventry-chair without the annoyance of cabs, railwav 

 stations, and trains. Having proposed a hearty vote of 

 thanks to Mr. Phillips for his paper, he brought the pro- 

 ceedings to a close. 



ALFRED TRIBE 

 C\^ November 26 died, after a very short illness, Mr. 

 ^-^ Alfred Tribe. He was born in London forty-six- 

 years ago in humble circumstances, and his first ac- 

 quaintance with science seems to have been obtained 

 as a boy at the Royal College of Chemistr)'. While 

 waiting upon the students there he acquired whatever 

 knowledge he could, and repeated in a back kitchen at 

 home many of the experiments he had seen them per- 

 form. Prof Hofmann, pleased with his desire for know- 

 ledge, gave him every encouragement and assistance in 

 his power. At the age of sixteen he entered into the 

 service of Dr. Medlock, then of Dr. Forbes Watson, and 

 afterwards he assisted Prof Williamson, of University 

 College. He then went to Dr. Bernays, who after some 

 time induced him to spend a year at Heidelberg under 

 Prof Bunsen, and kept his place at St. Thomas's Hospital 

 open for him while he was away. On his return he con- 

 tinued to act as laboratory assistant and Demonstrator of 

 Chemistry. 



Twenty years ago he became my private assistant, 

 and remained head of my laboratory till his death. 

 During the same time he held the Lectureship on Metal- 

 lurgy to the Medical School of the National Dental Hos- 

 pital, and since 1S74 he has been Lecturer on Chemistry 

 and Director of Practical Chemistry in Dulwich College. 



He became successively a Fellow of the Chemical 

 Society, of the Institute of Chemistry, and of the Society 

 of Chemical Industry. 



Mr. Tribe was pre-eminently a scientific investigator. 

 He loved patient and original research, and all his work 

 was most carefully and honestly done. He published a 

 large number of papers, some in his own name, and others 

 in conjunction with myself. His first paper was on 



Sulphide of Ammonium, his second on the Expansion of 

 Bismuth at the Freezing-point. His more important 

 inquiries were connected with the occlusion of hydrogen 

 by copper and the rarer metals, and especially a series of 

 experiments on the distribution of the electricity in an 

 electrolyte traversed by a current. The curious and 

 suggestive results of this investigation appear in abstract 

 in the Proceedings of the Royal Society for January and 

 June, 1881, but they are most fully expounded, with 

 coloured illustrations, in the second edition of Mr. J. E. 

 H. Gordon's Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism." 



His most important research in conjunction with 

 m-yself is contained in a series of papers on the Copper- 

 Zinc Couple, published principally in the 'Journal of the 

 Chemical Society. He was the first to observe the 

 greatly enhanced chemical power of zinc when covered 

 with spongy copper. Whatever value there was in this 

 extended research was due to his original suggestions, as 

 much as to his careful manipulation. The same credit is 

 due to him with regard to the series of papers on the 

 aluminium-iodine reaction, the last of which was read 

 only the night before he was taken ill. His discovery of 

 these two new methods of acting upon chemical com- 

 pounds was productive of many new substances, including 

 the aluminium alcohols. 



In addition to these chemical inquiries, we worked 

 together on some electrical matters — describing an air- 

 battery, that is, one in which the oxygen of the air took 

 part ; some experiments on thermal electrolysis ; and, 

 more particularly, the chemistry of the secondary bat- 

 teries of Plantif and Faure. The results of this investi- 

 gation were first made known through the pages of 

 NATtjRE, and were afterwards collected together in a 

 separate treatise. 



As a teacher of science, Mr. Tribe was very successful. 

 He had the art of communicating his own enthusiasm to 

 his laboratory students, and many of them have dis- 

 tinguished themselves since at the Universities or else- 

 where. Only the week before his death he had the 

 satisfaction of knowing that his favourite science was to 

 receive a more worthy share of attention in the Dulwich 

 College. 



At these pursuits Mr. Tribe worked earnestly and con- 

 tinuously, being little known beyond his laboratories and 

 his home. His widow, and four surviving children, to- 

 gether with a small circle of intimate friends, will however 

 long remember the thorough uprightness of his character, 

 and the self-denying purpose of his life. 



J. H. Gladstone 



JORDAN'S PHOTOGRAPHIC SUNSHINE 

 RECORDER 



UP to the present time the only instruments in general 

 use for registering the duration of sunshine are 

 modifications of the original apparatus invented by the 

 late Mr. J. F. Campbell, of Islay, in 1853, the essential 

 part of which consists of a clear glass globe capable of 

 condensing the solar rays sufficiently to burn a trace on a 

 card placed within its focal range. New forms of instru- 

 ments have, however, been lately devised, and in the 

 International Inventions Exhibition there were exhibited 

 two Sunshine-recorders differing entirely from those 

 hitherto used, the results being obtained by means of 

 photography. Prof McLeod's instrument was described 

 in Nature (vol. xxxi. p. 319), and we now give particu- 

 lars of Mr. Jordan's photographic Sunshine-recorder. 

 This instrument is of very simple construction. The 

 working part consists of a cylindrical box or dark cham- 

 ber i\ inches diameter nnd 3j inches long, mounted on 

 a suitable stand having the means of adjustment to suit 

 the latitude of the station where used. This cylinder is 

 pierced with two small rectangular apertures or knife- 

 edged slits, and, being placed in a position facing south. 



