vi 



the decision of many a council meeting. He had the tact of opposing 

 without irritating ; and even those to whom on questions of public business 

 he might find himself opposed, were ever ready to do justice to the honesty 

 of purpose and singleness of aim by which he was actuated. Of many 

 and varied attainments, an etnhusiastic admirer of music and of art, con- 

 versant with continental as with English literature, he continued until 

 within a few months of his death to take an active interest in all the dis- 

 coveries and achievements of modern science. The philosophical bias 

 given to his mind by the eloquent teachings of Sir Charles Bell remained 

 with him to the last, and was manifested both in his writings and in his 

 conversation. 



Pull of years, tended by those he loved, conscious of having gained and 

 maintained to the last an honourable if not distinguished reputation, at 

 Strangeways-Marshall, Dorset, within a few miles of his birthplace, this 

 estimable life drew to a close. It is no exaggeration to say that by all 

 who were acquainted with him Mr. Bishop was respected and esteemed ; 

 but only those who knew him intimately can bear full testimony to the 

 kindly feeling and genial worth that preeminently characterized the subject 

 of this imperfect memoir. 



Baldwin Fbajtcts Dttppa was the eldest son of Baldwin Francis 

 Duppa, B.A. (OxoU')? an< ^ Barrister-at-law. His parents spent the first 

 few years of their married life abroad ; and their eldest son and first child 

 was born, February 18, 1828, at Rouen in Normandy. His early taste for 

 experimental investigation involved young Duppa in a most disastrous 

 accident ; for when he was only seven years old he poured the contents 

 of a powder-flask into the fire, causing an explosion which shattered his 

 hand, blinded him for some time, and deprived him of the use of a thumb 

 for life. 



He received his early education at the celebrated school of M. de Fellen- 

 berg at Hof wyl near Berne, where he was the intimate companion of Henri 

 the grandson of De Saussure. Here he acquired a good knowledge of 

 French, German, and Swiss-German, and spoke the first two languages 

 at that time so well that in returning from Switzerland he was twice 

 taken for a runaway from school (once for a French boy and once for a 

 German), and had some trouble to persuade the diligence officials to let 

 him pass. To these languages he subsequently added Italian and Arabic. 

 It was one of the features at Hofwyl that each boy should learn some 

 useful trade during play hours ; and young Duppa took up carpentering, 

 becoming very expert in the making of ornamental boxes and other small 

 articles. To this early development of mechanical skill was doubtless 

 due some of that extraordinary manipulative power and fertility of in- 

 vention which afterwards characterized his laboratory work. Quickly 

 seizing upon the essential conditions for the performance of a given 

 chemical operation, the prompt construction of the necessary apparatus, 



