MEMOIR OF THE LATE PROF. E. HODGKINSON_, F.R.S. 155 



above all by a man of science, he enjoyed the friendship 

 and esteem of his contemporaries, who were able to esti- 

 mate his worth, appreciate his talents, and apply his dis- 

 coveries to useful purposes. The most eminent engineers 

 of the age placed unbounded confidence in the results of 

 his experiments, believing them to be faithfully recorded, 

 and accurately reduced to meet the requirements of mathe- 

 matical formulse. As a confirmation of this, it may be 

 stated that the engineers' pocket- and text-books of the 

 present time are full of Hodgkinson's formulse for calcu- 

 lating the strength and deflection of pillars and beams. 



Mr. Hodgkinson was twice married, but without issue 

 in each case. His first wife was Miss Catherine Johns, 

 daughter of the respected Rev. William Johns, a distin- 

 guished Member of this Society, who contributed an in- 

 teresting paper to its memoirs, entitled " Remarks on the 

 Use and Origin of Figurative Language '' (vol. ii. new 

 series). His second wife was Miss Holditch, daughter of 

 Henry Holditch, Esq., Captain in the Cheshire Militia. 

 This lady, who is now left to mourn her loss, devoted her 

 powers to comfort and sustain her husband when his 

 health and memory would not admit of his having recourse 

 to his favourite pursuits. Of late his great mental powers 

 became prostrate, and his memory failed so much that it 

 was obvious to his friends the time had arrived when his 

 faculties required repose. In this state of mental lassitude 

 the services of Mrs. Hodgkinson were of great value to him. 

 It is not unusual with men whose mental powers have been 

 overstrained by excitement and hard labour, that the desire 

 for intellectual activity does not cease when the physical 

 power necessary to sustain it is feeble. Mr. Hodgkinson 

 was the subject of this painful experience : the desire for 

 mental activity continued unabated to the last ; and it was 

 only a few months before his decease that he was engaged 

 in arranging his papers, with a view to publish them, so 



