OF ROBERT ANGUS SMITH. 99 



year 1844. ^o^ several years he acted as one o£ the 

 Secretaries of the Society^ subsequently he was elected a 

 Vice-President^ and during the sessions 1864 ^^d 1865 he 

 filled the post of President. He at all times took a lively 

 interest in the welfare of the Society^ and was always 

 ready with advice and active assistance when such were 

 required in the transaction of business. 



In connection with this Society he will, however, be 

 chiefly remembered by two works, the ^Life of Dalton 

 and the Atomic Theory" and 'A Centenary of Science in 

 Manchester/ which were written at our request, and 

 form two volumes of our series of Memoirs. The ' Life 

 of Dalton^ was a work written con amove, as it gave the 

 author an opportunity of setting forth his ideas on two 

 favourite subjects — the rise and development of scientific 

 thought among civilized nations, and the consideration of 

 the metaphysical notions out of which the theory of 

 atoms has sprung. The other of the two works named 

 shows the original turn of thought and terseness of style 

 found in all his writings, though undertaken at a time 

 when his health was declining and he was overburdened 

 with other work. To the same class of writings belongs 

 the preface to the beautiful edition of Graham^s ' Chemical 

 and Physical Researches,'' undertaken at the cost of the 

 late James Young. In this preface he gives a short 

 history of the atomic theory, beginning with its rise in 

 the schools of Greece and tracing its development in 

 modern times. 



Dr. Smith was a Fellow of the Royal Society and of 

 the Chemical Society of London, and a member of several 

 learned societies on the continent. Had he been more of 

 a specialist it is probable that the list of societies that 

 sought to honour him by membership and in other ways 

 would have been longer. In the year 1881 the degree of 



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