HO  Professor  John  Att field,  F.R.S.  {AmMlrchj9ho6.rm* 
On  retiring  from  the  Chair  of  Practical  Chemistry  at  the  School 
of  Pharmacy,  the  Council  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  accorded 
him  the  unusual  honor  of  a  vote  of  thanks.  His  former  students 
marked  the  occasion  of  his  retirement  from  the  chair,  which  he 
had  occupied  34  years,  by  presenting  him  with  a  testimonial.  Mr. 
John  Moss  was  the  secretary  of  the  Testimonial  Committee,  and 
over  1,000  old  students  and  some  250  public  scientific  leaders 
responded  to  his  invitation,  suggesting  the  presentation  of  a 
mark  of  esteem.  The  testimonial  took  the  form  of  a  silver  tray 
and  a  silver  tea  and  coffee  service,  with  a  large  and  very  beautKul 
album  containing  the  actual  signatures  of  the  subscribers.  The 
album  contained  an  inscription  from  which  a  paragraph  may 
appropriately  be  copied.  "  During  the  whole  of  this  long  tenure 
of  his  important  office  Professor  Attfield  not  only  won  and  retained 
the  respect  of  successive  generations  of  students  by  the  lucidity, 
accuracy  and  thoroughness  of  his  teaching,  but  he  also  endeared 
himself  to  them  by  his  unfailing  tact,  kindness  and  urbanity. 
Not  less  successfully  did  he  serve  pharmacists  and  medical  prac- 
titioners, and  through  them  the  public,  by  his  versatile  ability, 
untiring  energy  and  power  of  organization  as  an  editor  of  the  Phar- 
macopoeia and  author  of  a  manual  of  chemistry,  and,  generally,  as  a 
worker  who  unceasingly  applied  the  resources  of  the  great  science 
of  chemistry  to  the  demands  of  the  great  art  of  healing."  A  por- 
trait of  the  Professor  had  been  produced  by  Hubert  von  Herkomer, 
C.V.O.,  R.A.,  his  friend  and  neighbor,  and  since  that  day  related 
to  him  by  a  marriage  in  the  two  families.  At  the  presentation 
ceremony  Mr.  Moss  spoke  of  the  Professor  in  terms  which  give  a 
more  vivid  pen-picture  of  the  Professor  than  the  writer  could  hope 
to  do.  Calling  attention  to  an  engraving  of  the  portrait  by  Her- 
komer,  a  copy  of  which  was  presented  to  each  of  the  subscribers  to 
the  testimonial,  Mr.  Moss  said  :  "  It  is  the  face  of  a  man  of  science, 
who,  looking  at  a  problem,  regards  it  as  a  thing  to  be  solved,  and 
solve  it  he  will.  The  features,  firm  and  thoughtful,  kindly  and 
sympathetic,  will  recall  to  those  to  whom  it  goes  hundreds  of 
miles  away  from  this  place,  the  attractive  face  of  one  who  has 
endeared  himself  to  them  by  many  acts  of  kindness  and  attention. 
It  is  the  face  of  a  man  adept  at  smoothing  away  students' difficulties, 
whether  in  the  study  of  theory,  or  in  the  practice  of  difficult 
manipulation.    Seen  close  to,  firmness  and  thought  predominate. 
