580 



The impulse thus given to the progress of electrical research cannot 

 be too highly estimated, and to it must be traced the numerous ap- 

 plications of electricity, to the blasting of rocks, the working of 

 mines, and to submarine operations, and to the arts of electro-plating, 

 gilding, zincing, &c., which have recently acquired such magnitude. 

 His subsequent researches in the same field are contained in the 

 Philosophical Transactions, and were honoured by the Society in 

 the year 184-2 by one of the Royal P4edals. In 1839 Professor 

 Daniell was placed on the Commission appointed by the Admiralty 

 to inquire into the best method of defending the ships in the Royal 

 Navy from lightning, and the same year the Royal Society honoured 

 him with the office of Foreign Secretary to their body. His "In- 

 troduction to Chemical Philosophy," published during the course of 

 this year, contributed still further to increase his reputation, and in 

 1842 he received from the University of Oxford the honorary degree 

 of D.C.L. In consequence of the rapid corrosion of the copper 

 sheathing of the vessels employed upon the African stations, the 

 Admiralty requested him to examine the damaged sheets of metal 

 and the waters taken up from the localities v/here the corrosion was 

 the greatest ; he detected the cause of this decay, showing that sul- 

 phuretted hydrogen was abundantly generated in the ocean at these 

 spots, and succeeded in extracting from the metal plates the sulphur 

 which had occasioned their corrosion. It is a remarkable proof of 

 the variety and extent of Mr. Danieil's acquirements, that he received 

 at different times all the medals in the gift of the Royal Society. 



The circumstances v/hich attended the sudden and lamented ter- 

 mination of his valuable life, are known to most of the Fellows of 

 this Society. On the 13th of March 1845, after delivering his usual 

 lecture at King's College, apparently in perfect health, he attended 

 the Council Meeting of this Society, and shortly after making some 

 observation upon the business of the meeting, was seized with sym^ 

 ptoms indicating an attack of apoplexy. Several medical men who 

 were present hastened to his relief, and he was immediately bled ; 

 not the slightest benefit, -however, attended this measure, and in five 

 minutes he was a corpse. The shock occasioned by this melancholy 

 event, may be easier imagined than described, and cast a wide- 

 spread gloom over the extensive circle of his friends and acquaint'^ 

 ance. As a mark of respect to his memory, the Noble President 

 postponed the ordinary meeting of the Society, which was to have 

 been held that evening. His remains were interred at Norwood, 

 Surrey, where during the last ten years of his life he had resided. 



Mr. Daniell survived his wife eleven years, and left a family of 

 two sons and five daughters to deplore his loss. High as were his 

 scientific attainments, he possessed others of a still loftier and more 

 enduring character ; to the sterling qualities of a vigorous under- 

 standing, and a kind and benevolent heart, he united the humble 

 and unobtrusive piety of a sincere christian. 



Thomas Phillips, R.A., F.R.S., F.S.A., was a native of Dud- 

 ley in Warwickshire, where he was born on the 18th of October, 



