that the French astronomer Janssen, then in India, had made the same observation two months before. The independence of these discoveries was recognized, and the French Academy struck a joint medal in honor of them.
Mr. Lockyer has prosecuted his spectroscopic researches on the sun with great industry and fruitful results, and, in conjunction with Prof. Frankland of the Royal School of Chemistry, has made a series of interesting experiments on the relation of gases under pressure to the spectrum lines, thus throwing important light on the changes taking place in the solar atmosphere.
Mr. Lockyer's contributions to scientific literature, as an author of books, a periodical writer, and a scientific editor, have been numerous. In 1862, he had editorial charge of the scientific department of The Reader, and subsequently edited the English edition of "The Heavens," by Guillemin. In 1868, he published his excellent school treatise on "Elementary Astronomy," and in 1869 became the editor of Nature, when that able scientific paper was established by Macmillan & Co. Last year "The Forces of Nature," an elaborate work, by the author of "The Heavens," appeared, with amendments and additions from his pen. He has published, during the present year, an excellent little volume on "Spectrum Analysis," being a course of lectures delivered in 1869, and revised to date. It is beautifully illustrated, and forms the first of Macmillan's "Nature Series."
In 1870, he was appointed by the English Government chief of the expedition sent out to Sicily for the purpose of observing the solar eclipse, and, in addition to his other work, accepted the secretaryship of the Royal Commission on Scientific Institutions and the Advancement of Science. In 1871, having been named assistant commissioner, he was requested to draw up a report on science-teaching in English and Continental schools, and the same year he received the honorable appointment of Rede Lecturer at Cambridge.
Mr. Lockyer is a gentleman of courteous and affable manners, a vivacious conversationist, and a ready and fluent public speaker. Like many other scientific Englishmen, he recognizes that he owes a duty to this country, and hopes to be able to discharge it when he can get release from his multifarious engagements. He has been invited by the Lowell Institute to give a course of astronomical lectures in Boston, and, when he comes to deliver them, he will probably repeat the series in some of the other cities of the country.
