XXIV 



tlie superiority of the sj'stem. He never would permit himself the abbre- 

 viations log X, sin X, &c.; it was always logarithm of x, sine of x, &c. 

 This, and some other consequences of isolated thought, in the mind of a 

 man who. was not thrown among his equals in power until he was an old 

 student, will be looked at with interest. 



The thing by which Mr. Gompertz will always be remembered, is the 

 discovery of the function which so nearly gives the law of human life, 

 published in our 'Transactions.' His recent developments of his own law 

 are as yet suh judice, but they show the continuance of youthful energy to 

 a very late period. Those who know the state of the writer when his last 

 ]Tapers were pubhshed, will wonder at the vigour of mind which remained 

 untouched by bodily weakness. The law above mentioned stands alone as 

 capable of physiological enunciation : tell a mathematician that it is " the 

 power to oppose decay loses equal proportions in equal times," add that 

 the constants undergo nearly sudden changes, and he will be able to re- 

 establish the whole theory. 



In the memoir to which we have alluded will be found a full account of 

 Mr. Gompertz' s connexion with the Royal Astronomical Society and other 

 Associations. He became a Fellow of this Society in 1819. 



Sir Benjamin Heywood, Bart., born the 12th of December, 1 793, of an 

 ancient Lancashire family, was the eldest son of Nathaniel Heywood, 

 banker in Manchester. His mother was the daughter of Thomas Percival, 

 M.D., elected in 1765, at the age of twenty -five, a Fellow of the Royal 

 Society, and the author of 'Medical Ethics.' 



After receiving a good school education, Benjamin Heywood completed 

 his studies in the University of Glasgow, where he distinguished himself 

 in the Logic Class of Professor Jardine, as well as in the Moral Philosophy 

 Class of Professor Mylne. In 1811 he entered on his hereditary calling 

 the bank at Manchester. He married in 1816 the daughter of the late 

 Thomas Robinson, Esq. Of this marriage, six sons and two daughters 

 survive him. 



The Manchester Mechanics' Institution was founded in 1824 by the 

 active exertions of Mr. Heywood, who for twenty years held the office of 

 President, and on his retirement from the presidential chair, the Directors, 

 impressed with the suggestive and practical character of his addresses, 

 collected and published them. 



Scientific pursuits were always encouraged in the Institution by Mr. 

 Heywood. In 1838, after a conversation with Mr. Leonard Horner, F.R.S., 

 he recommended certificates of proficiency to be granted to meritorious stu- 

 dents when they had completed an allotted course of study. This plan 

 was subsequently adopted with benefit to the Institution. 



In 1831 a large majority of the inhabitants of Lancashire were greatly 

 nterested in the Reform Bill, which conferred on many of their towns the 

 right of representation in parhament. At the general election of that 



