Am.  Jour.  Pharm.) 
March,  1906.  J 
Professor  John.  A  tt fie  Id,  F.R.S. 
1 1 1 
At  a  short  distance  the  expression  seems  to  soften,  and  two  or  three 
yards  away  will  be  visible  the  genial  humor  that  lurks  in  the  eye  and 
the  corners  of  the  mouth,  ready  to  blossom  into  a  smile  under  the 
warming  influence  of  a  friendly  eye." 
Fortunately  for  Professor  Attfield,  he  has  always  consistently  de- 
veloped the  social  side  of  life.  The  Chemists'  Ball,  the  Football  and 
Cricket  Club,  the  Students'  Association,  and  the  annual  Old  Boys' 
Dinner  and  Smoking  Concert  in  connection  with  the  School  of 
Pharmacy  are  among  the  now  cherished  and  flourishing  institutions 
which  he  had  so  large  a  hand  in  founding  and  making  successful. 
We  have  now  completed  a  review  of  the  main  incidents  in  Profes- 
sor Attfield's  public  life.  After  his  retirement  from  the  Chair  of 
Practical  Chemistry  and  the  cessation  of  his  pharmacopceial  labors 
he  has  enjoyed  a  well-earned  retirement  at  his  beautiful  home  at 
Watford,  Herts.  Though  more  than  seventy  years  of  age,  he  retains 
alertness  and  vivacity,  and  takes  the  same  keen  interest  as  ever  in 
matters  pertaining  to  pharmacy.  There  are  few  men  to  whom  it 
is  granted  in  a  fuller  measure  than  to  Professor  Attfield  to  see  the 
fulfilment  of  their  life-work.  As  pharmacist,  author  and  professor 
he  has  succeeded  in  his  aims ;  the  proofs  of  this  are  seen  in  his  pub- 
lished researches,  his  Manual  of  Chemistry,  his  editorial  labors  on 
two  successive  British  Pharmacopoeias,  and  his  thirty-four  years' 
successful  occupation  of  the  Chair  of  Practical  Chemistry  of  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Great  Britain.  In  addition,  his  official 
standing  in  pharmacy  gained  for  him  a  large  and  lucrative  consulting 
practice.  To  all  his  undertakings  he  devoted  an  untiring  energy 
and  a  capacity  for  work  seldom  equalled.  The  secret  of  his  busy 
life  may  be  said  to  consist  in  the  methodical  allotment  of  the  hours 
of  work  and  recreation,  and  the  avoidance  of  haste  and  excitement. 
His  success  as  a  teacher  will  be  readily  understood  by  those  who 
have  read  the  preface  entitled  "  Advice  to  Students  "  in  the  Manual 
of  Chemistry,  concluding  with  these  words :  "  Students,  in  all  honor 
and  in  the  highest  self-interest,  take  care  that  any  inefficiencies 
inseparable  from  '  examination  '  are  abundantly  compensated  by  the 
extent  and  precision  of  your  knowledge,  and  by  the  soundness  and 
thoroughness  of  your  whole  education."  Professor  Attfield's  views  on 
education  have  always  been  of  the  broadest  type.  He  has  been  a 
steady  advocate  of  a  curriculum  of  study,  regarding  the  acquisition 
of  knowledge  merely  for  examination  purposes  as  pernicious.  Hence 
