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Anniversary Address by Lord Rayleigh. [Nov. 30, 



The deceased Foreign Members are : — 



Pierre Jules Cesar Janssen, died December 23, 1907. 



Franz von Leydig, died April, 1908. 



Henri Becquerel, died August 25, 1908. 



FJeuthere FJie Nicolas Mascart, died August 26, 1908. 



The list of deaths this year is exceptionally heavy, and includes the name 

 of one of the most eminent scientific men of our generation, who occupied 

 the Presidency of this Society from 1890 to 1895 — I refer, of course, to 

 Lord Kelvin. 



We are fortunate in having secured for our ' Proceedings ' a review of 

 Kelvin's life and work, written by one who is especially well qualified for the 

 difficult task. I do not doubt that Professor Larmor is right in placing in the 

 forefront of that work those fundamental advances in Thermodynamics which 

 date from the middle of the last century. It was Kelvin who first grasped 

 the full scope of the principle known as the Second Law, a law which may 

 indeed well be considered to stand first in order of importance, regarded from 

 the point of view of man's needs and opportunities. It would be futile to 

 attempt here a re-survey of the ground covered by Professor Larmor. 



My acquaintance with Kelvin was limited, until about 1880, a time when 

 I was occupied with measurements relating to the electrical units, and 

 received much appreciated encouragement. From then onwards until his 

 death I enjoyed the privilege of intimacy and, needless to say, profited 

 continually from his conversation, as I had done before from his writings. 

 Our discussions did not always end in agreement, and I remember his 

 admitting that a certain amount of opposition was good for him. Such 

 discussions often invaded the officers' meetings during the time that we were 

 colleagues, not always to the furtherance of the Society's business. But 

 I must not linger over these reminiscences, interesting as they are to me. 

 We shall never see his like. 



By the death of Sir Eichard Strachey we have lost a man well known to 

 the senior Fellows, who served repeatedly upon the Council and whose 

 advice was always valued. He was a born administrator ; and by his work 

 in India and afterwards at the Meteorological Office he rendered splendid 

 service. 



Dr. Sorby's researches extended over many fields, and in several of them 

 he was a pioneer. I suppose that his greatest achievement was the intro- 

 duction of the method in which thin slices of rock are examined under the 

 microscope. Among his many interesting observations are those upon the 

 retardation of freezing in capillary tubes. It appears that the walls exercise 



