M 



NATURE 



[July 



1910 



chamber which constitutes an enlargement of the 

 channel. 



The general arrangements will be clear from the 

 diagrammatic sketch in the figure. C is the observa- 

 tion chamber, which is air-tight, and provided with a 

 platform for carrying the observer and the necessary 

 measuring appliances. B is the bell-mouthed air 

 inlet, which is provided with a series of guide plates 

 of honeycomb section on the delivery side to ensure 

 that the air enters the chamber in parallel filaments. 

 V is the outlet and suction fan. S is the model under 

 test, connected to the weighing beam at A. 



The advantages of this method as regards sim- 

 plicity, comparative cheapness of construction, _ and 

 convenience in making the observations are obvious, 

 and in respect of its accuracy it is claimed that, using 

 the results of M. Eiffel's earlier experiments on fall- 

 ing plates as data, a complete check has been afforded 

 by the results obtained in the new apparatus. It may 

 be doubted, however, if the accuracy of this method 

 is so great as that obtained in a carefully designed 

 parallel channel, for there can hardly fail to be a 

 disturbance of the stream lines due to the sudden 

 enlargement at the inlet similar to that observed in 

 the flow of water. From a curve published in the 

 article, it appears that plates as large as 90 cm. by 

 15 cm. have been used in a current drawn from 

 an inlet 150 cm. in diameter. According to the 

 writer's experience with this method, the apparent 

 pressure for normal impingement of the current on a 

 plate the area of which is the same fraction of that 

 of the inlet as in the examples cited would be about 

 10 per cent, in excess of its true value, but in the 

 case of small inclinations, which is, of course, rela- 

 tively more important in aeronautical work, the error 

 would be much smaller, and possibly of the same 

 order of magnitude as those incurred in the estima- 

 tions of the velocity of the current. In this branch of 

 aeronautics valuable results may be expected from 

 M. Eiffel's researches. T. E. Stanton. 



C. H. GREVILLE WILLIAMS, F.R.S. 



pHARLES HANSON GREVILLE WILLIAMS 



^ was born at Cheltenham, September 22, 1829, 

 the son of S. Hanson Williams, a solicitor; his 

 death occurred on June 15, 1910. He commenced 

 his professional career as first assistant to 

 Prof. Anderson, of Glasgow University; after some 

 years spent in research work he moved to Edinburgh, 

 where he conducted a tutorial class under Dr. Lyon 

 Playfair. From 1857 to 1859 he was lecturer on 

 chemistry in the Normal College, Swansea. In 1859 

 he returned to Glasgow as chemist to the works of 

 Messrs. Miller, chemical manufacturers. He 

 migrated to Greenford Green in 1863, remaining with 

 Messrs. Perkin until i858. About that year he entered 

 into partnership with M. Edouard Thomas, at the 

 Star Chemical Works, Brentford, the firm being 

 makers of coal-tar colours, and subsisting until 1877. 

 Mr. Greville Williams about this time gave up his 

 connection with manufacturing chemistrv and became 

 photometric supervisor to the Gas Light and Coke 

 Company, with whom he remained until 1901, then 

 retiring into the country, where he seldom saw his 

 old friends and acquaintances, but was much in- 

 terested in the study of the ancient Egyptian language 

 and the translation of inscriptions. Until rheumatism 

 disabled him he was an expert draughtsman and calli- 

 graphist, a fair game shot, and an enthusiastic angler. 

 Although in reality a charming companion, with un- 

 usual conversational powers, and a keen appreciation 

 of literary and artistic culture, Greville Williams 

 possessed a very modest and retiring disposition, arfd 



became, especially of late years, an almost complete 

 recluse. He was more nervous about his state of 

 health than he need have been, and, in consequence, 

 cut himself off unnecessarily from scientific and social 

 intercourse. This isolation was also due, no doubt, in 

 part to his straitened circumstances, which neces- 

 sitated strict economy and debarred him from the 

 continuance of his scientific researches — hard lines tor 

 a thorough enthusiast; and such he was, possessed, 

 moreover, with the true chemical instinct and a 

 general scientific aptitude. It is a pity that the genius 

 for investigation which was shown in his researches 

 on isoprene, on beryl, and on the bases from bitu- 

 minous shale, from the Boghead mineral, and from 

 the destructive distillation of cinchonine, did not 

 develop in accordance with more modern methods in 

 his later years. But he made many interesting dis- 

 coveries, and has left a considerable record of 

 thoroughly sound work. 



Greville Williams was elected F.R.S. in June, 1862. 

 He outlived the rest of the distinguished "fifteen" of 

 that year. It was in 1862 also that he joined the 

 Chemical Society. He contributed a number of papers 

 to the publications of these societies, as well as many 

 notes to the Chemical Neix's, and also wrote articles 

 for Ure's Dictionary and for Watts's Dictionary, as 

 well as for the Journal of Gas Lighting. His chief 

 literary work was "A Handbook of Chemical Mani- 

 pulation " (Van Voorst, 1857) ; a supplement appeared 

 in 1879. 



On November 25, 1852, Greville Williams married 

 Henrietta Bosher ; she died on February 16, 1904. 

 One son and three daughters survive. 



The writer of this notice has lost a friend of nearly 

 sixty years' standing — a friend of rare quality and of 

 high Christian character. A. H. C. 



NOTES. 

 We announce with deep regret the death, on Monday 

 last at Milan, at the age of seventy-five years, of Prof. 

 G. V. Schiaparelli, Foreign Member of the Royal Society. 



The death (on June 12) is announced of Dr. W. H. 

 Seaman, professor of chemistry in Harvard University, 

 at the age of seventy-three years. 



We regret to announce the death, on July 4, of Mr. R. 

 Russell, I.S.O., who was for thirty-six years connected 

 with the administration of education in Natal. In 1877 

 he became Superintendent of Education, and retired in 

 1903. 



At the general monthly meeting of the members of the 

 Royal Institution, held on Monday last, it was announced 

 that the King has consented to become Patron of the 

 institution. 



The Janssen prize of the Paris Academy of Sciences has 

 been awarded to Prof. W. W. Campbell, director of the 

 Lick Observatory, University of California. 



Sir J. J. Thomson, F.R.S., has been elected president 

 of the Junior Institution of Engineers, in succession to 

 Sir H. J. Oram, K.C.B. 



Dr. F. a. Bather, F.R.S., has been appointed by the 

 trustees to represent the British Museum (Natural History) 

 at the forthcoming International Geological Congress in 

 Stockholm. 



The Cullen Victoria Jubilee prize has been awarded by 

 the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh to Dr. 

 R. W. Philip, for his work on tuberculosis. The prize is 

 awarded onte in every four years for the " most important 

 contribution to practical medicihe." 



NO. 2123, VOL. 84] 



