6 REPORT— 1902. 



more numerous in Paris than in London, the Professorship of Physics at 

 the Ecole Polytechnique. la that post, which he occupied to the end of 

 his life, he found what is probably the ideal combination for a man of 

 science — leisure and material equipment for original research, together 

 with that close and stimulating contact with practical affairs afforded by 

 his duties as teacher in a great school, almost ranking as a department of 

 State. Cornu was admirable alike in the use he made of his opportuni- 

 ties and in his manner of discharging his duties. He was at once a great 

 investigator and a great teacher. I shall not even attempt a summary, 

 which at the best must be very imperfect, of his brilliant achievements in 

 optics, the study of his predilection, in electricity, in acoustics, and in the 

 field of physics generally-. As a proof of the great estimation in which he 

 was held, it is sufficient to remind you that he had tilled the highest presi- 

 dential offices in French scientific societies, and that he was a foreign 

 member of our Royal Society and a recipient of its Rumford medal. In 

 this country he had many friends, attracted no less by his personal and 

 social qualities than by his commanding abilities. Some of those here 

 present may I'emember his appearance a few years ago at the Royal 

 Institution, and more recently his delivery of the Rede Lecture at Cam- 

 bridge, when the University conferred upon him the honorary degree of 

 Doctor of Science. His death has inflicted a heavy blow upon our 

 generation, upon France, and upon the world. 



[Since this address was written the Association has suffered a grievous 

 loss through the sudden death of Sir Frederick Abel, a past President 

 and one of the most representative and successful chemists of his genera- 

 tion. A distinguished pupil of Hoffmann, his early work was directed 

 to the study of organic chemistry. His appointment as Chemist to the 

 War Office at an early stage in his career directed his attention almost 

 exclusively to problems dealing with the application of chemistry tO' 

 naval and military questions ; a department of knowledge with which his 

 name will always be identified. His researches on nitro-cellulose, detona- 

 tion, and the history of explosive agents, contain many new and startling 

 observations on the stability and utility of such agents for the purposes 

 of war. His investigation, in association with Sir Andrew Noble, of the 

 products of the decomposition of fired gunpowder has long been regarded 

 as a classic. He had the satisfaction of living through the age of gun- 

 powder, and of seeing those nitro-compounds of his earlier studies 

 employed as smokeless propulsive agents. In contributing to our know- 

 ledge of the cause and prevention of colliery explosions and in devising a. 

 reliable flash-test for the examination of petroleum he did great public 

 service. Further he made valuable contributions to the study of metal- 

 lurgy, especially as regards the condition of the carbon in steel. We also 

 owe to him a debt of gratitude for services rendered to scientific societies 

 and to the cause of scientific education. His loss makes a serious vacancy 

 in the ranks of English chemists.] 



