i8o 



NATURE 



[June 25, 1896 



better express our common thought tlian by saying that we have 

 taken part in the apotheosis of science. I concKide by express- 

 ing the kindest wishes to the University of Glasgow, and our 

 gratitude to Providence for having confided to us an incalculable 

 treasure in the person of Lord Kelvin. May he be long spared 

 to humanity. 



Sir Joseph Lister said — My Lord Provost, my Lords and 

 gentlemen, I have to thank Prof. Gairdner, my old friend, 

 for the kind words in which he has referred to myself in the 

 close of his speech, and this most distinguished company for the 

 manner in which they have been received. It has been to myself 

 a matter of unalloyed .satisfaction to attend this grand celebra- 

 tion. A jubilee is sometimes attended with melancholy when it 

 is felt that the man in who.se honour it is held is failing in body 

 and in mind, and that his life's work is over. No such cloud 

 hangs over us to-day. It is true, as you are all aware, that 

 some months ago Lord Kelvin experienced some indisposition. 

 There was felt anxiety in some quarters, whether it might be 

 prudent for him to undergo the fatigue and excitement neces- 

 sarily attendant upon an occasion like this. Lord Kelvin came 



me a matter of very great pleasure to witness the splendid vitality 

 and vigour of the .school in which I had once the honour oi being 

 a teacher, in palatial buildings, which may well excite the envy 

 of us Londoners — a true teaching university in the full tide of 

 prosperity and u.sefulness. I have also been exceedingly pleased 

 to observe the friendly co-operation between the university and 

 the municipality, of which this magnificent banquet is of itself 

 sufficient evidence. The electrical illumination of the college 

 buildings, which so largely promoted the success of last night's 

 entertainment, was due to the liberality of the municipality, 

 guided by the wise and bold policy of the Lord Provost. I 

 visited today the Botanic (jarden— that indispen.sable adjunct of 

 an efficient university. In former days these gardens produced a 

 painful impression upon those who visited them. They gave too 

 clear an evidence that science was confined and cribbed for want 

 of pecuniary means. Now all this is altered. The beautiful 

 site has been extended and embellished, magnificent new houses 

 have been erected, and e\erything bears the stamp on the one 

 hand of scientific wisdom in their management, and on the other 

 hand of ample resources. Now, all this is due to the beneficent 



to London some weeks since, and he did me, as an old col- 

 league, the honour of asking my advice. I looked into his case 

 as carefully as I could, and it seemed to me that his ailment 

 had been in its origin purely local, implying nothing of constitu- 

 tional defect, and giving no reason to apprehend any ultimate 

 impairment of bodily or niLMital vigour. A certain amount of care 

 had been required at the outset, and this had been taken under 

 the direction of the eminent men whose advice he had had in 

 ( Glasgow ; and I agreed with them in the opinion that the care 

 might be gradually relaxed ; and finally I took upon myself the 

 somewhat serious responsiliility of giving to Lord Kelvin (arte 

 blaitihc to behave as any ordinary mortal might do. Now, 

 gentlemen, I venture to think that what we have seen and heard 

 of Lord Kelvin in the course of the last two days justifies my 

 boldness, and that we may confidently look forward to the fulfil- 

 ment of the hope which he ex]iressed this morning, that he may 

 yet for many years to come pursue with unabated energy those 

 magnificent researches which have already done so much to 

 benefit humanity. There is another aspect of this occasion with 

 regard to which I should like to say a word. It has been to 



NO. I 39 I. VOL. 54] 



rule of ihe municipality of Glasgow. I feel, therefore, that 

 whether I look at this great celebration with regard to its essential 

 object — the homage of the scientific world to our illustrious friend 

 — or to the evidence which it has aftbrded of the prosperity of 

 the University and the wise liberality of this great city, it has 

 given me unmixed pleasure ; and it has been a high privilege to 

 liave been permitted to take part in it. 



Prof. Simon Newcomb, Washington, U.S., replied for the 

 -Americans. He remarked — I feel that an apology is due to you 

 in accepting the invitation to speak this evening, and thereby 

 imperilling a certain reputation which I believe my country has 

 for grace in after-dinner speeches. The fact is, that until it was 

 too late I was really not aware America would have so many 

 representatives here better able than I am to do justice to the 

 occasion. But there is yet another reason why I was extremely 

 unwilling to voice the sentiments which I know are entertained 

 by all Americans on the present occasion. If among the friends 

 of Lord Kelvin, who for twenty-five years have been in more or 

 less intimate association with him, that one was to be selected of 

 whom tiuring that period he had most kindly spoken, and 



