Arthur Williams Wright. 365 



is interesting as having been one of the comparatively few 

 occasions in which the Government turned to the National 

 Academy for scientific advice. Another work of public char- 

 acter was performed in 1887, when he served as chairman of 

 the committee of weighing on the Assay Commission to test 

 the weight and fineness of the gold and silver coins at the 

 United States mint in Philadelphia. Further he was, from 

 1881 to 1886, an adviser of the Government Signal Service, 

 but what he there accomplished has not been specifically pub- 

 lished as far as known to the present writer. 



Of work, important, but of a different character from that 

 already mentioned, were his labors on the two editions of 

 Webster's Dictionary of 1864 and 1890. In the revision of 

 1864 he acted as general collaborator, assisting in the prepara- 

 tion of the manuscript for the press, the revision of definitions, 

 especially those of scientific and technical subjects, and in 

 reading the proofs. He also prepared for this edition the 

 articles on " Orthography" and the "Rules" for spelling cer- 

 tain classes of words, and assisted in the revision of the list of 

 " Arbitrary Signs used in Writing and Printing." In the 

 edition of 1890 he gave his attention especially to the defini- 

 tions in chemistry and physics. Professor Wright also pre- 

 pared a series of summaries on " Scientific Progress" published 

 in the International Review in 1876 and 1877. 



Professor Wright was elected a member of the National 

 Academy of Sciences in 1881 ; he was also a Fellow of the 

 Royal Astronomical Society of Great Britain ; a member of the 

 American Philosophical Society ; of the Connecticut Academy 

 of Sciences ; the American Metrological Society ; the New 

 York Academy of Sciences and other scientific bodies. 



He was married in New Haven, October 6, 1875, to Miss 

 Susan Forbes, eldest daughter of Prof. Benjamin Silliman, Jr. 

 She died February 17, 1890. Two daughters and one son sur- 

 vive him. 



Charles S. Hastings. 



Bibliography. 



The following bibliography includes his most important 

 scientific papers : 



1870. On a peculiar form of the discharge between the poles of the elec- 



trical machine. This Journal (2), vol. xlix, pp. 381-384. 



1871. On certain forms of the electrical discharge in air. Ibid, (3), vol. i, 



pp. 437-443. 



1872. On a simple apparatus for the production of ozone with electricity of 



high tension. Ibid., vol. iv, pp. 26-29. 

 On the action of ozone upon vulcanized caoutchouc, Ibid., pp. 

 29-31. 



