11 



and pupils, and he was presented with a valuable service of plate, as 

 a testimony of their respect and esteem. 



During his twenty years' residence in the University, he was 

 almost uninterruptedly engaged in preparing pupils for the exami- 

 nation, and in writing books on subjects connected with their studies. 

 He also daring this time served the University in the difficult and 

 responsible office of Proctor. He was six times chosen Moderator, 

 viz., in the years 1835, 1839, 1840, 1842, 1848, and 1851. This is an 

 appointment which no one before him had ever held so often. These 

 repeated re-elections prove the general esteem in which his extra- 

 ordinary power in constructing problems was held. 



In 1836, Mr. Gaskin was elected a Fellow of the Royal 

 Astronomical Society, and in 1839 he became a Fellow of the 

 Royal Society. 



He removed to Cheltenham about 1855, where he spent the 

 remainder of his life. During his residence at this place, he 

 occupied himself almost entirely with private pupils until his health 

 failed. He here published a pamphlet on the theory and practice of 

 solitaire. Subsequently, the broken state of his health, the early 

 deaths of his sons and of his wife, made him choose a retired life, 

 and prevented him from devoting his time to work. He seems never 

 to have been a strong man, for he was an invalid even when Tutor of 

 Jesus College. 



Mr. Gaskin, when resident in Cambridge, was especially known 

 for his unrivalled skill in the construction and solution of problems, 

 especially such as required the application of complicated analysis. 

 Indeed, we can see by his writings that this was the bent of his 

 talents. In 1847, he published two volumes of " Solutions of Trigo- 

 nometrical and Geometrical Problems." These were the solutions of 

 examination papers set in St. John's College for the years 1830 to 

 1846. Though these books are of an elementary character, yet they 

 must have had considerable influence on the studies of those 

 seeking distinction in the examinations of that day. Even after this 

 lapse of time, when so many new methods have come into use, a 

 teacher would find here a useful collection of problems and examples 

 with admirable solutions, a store-house from which he might draw 

 material to lighten his own labours. 



In the appendices, he added the solution of some other geometrical 

 problems which were exciting interest at the time. 



He also wrote in the 'Mechanic's Magazine,' and in 1848 

 published some papers on the inscription of polygons in the conic 

 sections. 



In Dr. Hymer's treatise on " Differential Equations," we find the 

 solution of one of the problems proposed by him in the Senate 

 House, when Moderator in 1839, given as the best and simplest 



