XXX111 



The man was what his autobiography has shown. What was his ' 

 work ? His chief claim on the memory of his fellow-labourers and 

 the public is that he was prominent among those who helped to reduce 

 the principles of medicine to a properly co-ordinated scientific system, 

 and who laid the foundations of modern pathology. It is pleasant to 

 think that this high claim was fully recognised in his own lifetime, as 

 is shown by his appointment to the different posts of honour already 

 mentioned. 



A. B. Gr. 



By the death of Mr. Nfwall, which occurred in April, 1889, the 

 Society has lost a Fellow whose labours and interest in the progress 

 of instrumental astronomy have secured a notable progress, which 

 has been utilized throughout the whole of the civilized world, his 

 activity in this direction being in direct continuation of that of 

 others to whom we owe in a large measure the renaissance of the 

 optical art in England. 



One of the first telescopes made by Cooke, of York, in his early days 

 was one of large aperture constructed for Mr. Hugh Lee Pattinson, 

 F.R.S;, F.R.A.S., and this was almost the first commission for a large 

 object glass he had received. It was in the satisfactory completion' 

 of this telescope that Cooke gave that sure promise of a combined 

 optical and engineering skill which his whole life was destined to 

 fulfil. 



Mr. Newall, in 1849, married a daughter of Mr. Pattinson, and, 

 possessing the same interest in astronomical pursuits as Mr. Pattinson 

 himself, frequently discussed with him the possibility of successfully 

 constructing and mounting an object glass of a size much larger than 

 any other in existence. When he saw in the Exhibition of 1862 the 

 two large discs of crown and flint glass, manufactured by the Messrs. 

 Chance, of Birmingham, he determined to acquire them, and try an 

 experiment. The diameter of these discs was about 26 inches ; the 

 largest existing refractor at that time in actual operation was the 

 16-inch at Pulkowa, and Mr. Newall determined to see w r hether or 

 no it was possible to advance at one bound from an aperture of 16 

 inches to one of 25. This experiment was not a simple one, for the 

 idea at that time was that even if a perfect object glass of such 

 dimensions could be turned out by the optician's skill, yet that its 

 flexure would render it practically useless for all fine astronomical 

 purposes. 



Our great optician, Cooke, was just as anxious to make this experi- 

 ment as Mr. Newall himself, and he threw himself into the work with 

 vigour. Ultimately the telescope was finished: Cooke had never made 

 an object glass of which the definition was more perfect, while the 

 admirable engineering skill displayed in the mounting and the ease 



