362 Arthur Williams Wright. 



was appointed in 1871) he held until 1S8T, when he was 

 relieved of the responsibility for the chemistry and the title 

 of his chair was changed to " Professor of Experimental 

 Physics." 



One of Professor Wright's most distinguished services to 

 the University, and indeed to the teaching of science in America, 

 was the early recognition that the practice of combining pro- 

 fessorships of physics and of chemistry had ceased to be either 

 economical or possible. It was under his stimulus and activity 

 that the first Sloane Laboratory of Yale College — the first 

 structure in the country devoted exclusively to the work of 

 a physical laboratory in the modern sense — was designed 

 and constructed. This was completed in 1883, and hence- 

 forth he was able to carry on the work of instruction and 

 investigation under the most favorable conditions, vastly dif- 

 ferent from those previously existing for him in the time- 

 honored Chemical Laboratory of the elder Silliman. It may 

 be added that this Sloane Laboratory also contained the study 

 and lecture room of Professor J. Willard Gibbs, whose contri- 

 butions to physical sciences have made it celebrated for all 

 time. 



The greater portion of Professor Wright's scientific work 

 found its first publication in this Journal. These contributions 

 are not merely important in substance; they are also charac- 

 terized by unusual excellence of form and clarity of statement. 

 His fertility in ideas, his full knowledge of the literature of 

 his subject and, not the least, his rare manual dexterity, together 

 enabled him to make a distinguished record as a physical inves- 

 tigator. A short review of the papers, published in this 

 Journal, will prove of interest ; references to them will be 

 found in the bibliography which closes this notice. 



An early paper, published in 1870, was entitled " On a 

 peculiar form of the discharge between the poles of the elec- 

 trical machine." This paper describes the glow produced 

 upon the positive ball in an active electrical machine and the 

 conditions under which it may be produced. The striking 

 fact that each portion of this luminous surface can be regarded 

 as due to the effect of a point area on the negative ball, as 

 proved by sharp geometric shadows formed by minute obstacles 

 anywhere within the region between the conductors, is quite 

 new and it affords a particularly beautiful method of determin- 

 ing the shape and position of the lines of force. This investi- 

 gation was followed by another, " On certain forms of the 

 electrical discharge in air," which contains extensions of 

 experimental methods and results attaching to the positive 

 glow described in the previous pajDer. 



