in 1868, which was superseded in 1879 by the Abel close-test, with a flash-point of 73. He also carried out many researches into the composition of alloyed metals with reference to their physical properties. His last piece of work, carried out in conjunction with Prof, (afterwards Sir) James Dewar, was the invention of cordite in 1889. The use of high explosives abroad forced the English government to seek for a better material than guncotton, and a committee was appointed in 1888, under Abel's presidency, to examine all the modern high explosives. None of them was exactly suitable to service requirements, and their inventors refusing to make the necessary modifications, Abel and Dewar devised and patented a compound of guncotton and nitroglycerine and assigned it to the secretary of war in 1890 (cf. Hansard, 11 Sept. 1893). Cordite is now the standard explosive of this country.
Abel's remarkable powers of organisation and his official position as scientific adviser to the government gave him a prominent position in the scientific world. He was elected F.R.S. in 1860, and received the royal medal in 1887. He was president of the Chemical Society (1875–7), of the Institute of Chemistry (1881–2), of the Society of Chemical Industry (1883), and of the Institute of Electrical Engineers. He was also president of the Iron and Steel Institute in 1891, and was awarded the Bessemer gold medal in 1897. He acted as chairman of the Society of Arts (1883–4) and received the Albert Medal in 1891. The Telford medal was bestowed on him by the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1879.
At Plymouth in 1877 he presided over the chemistry section of the British Association, and as president of the Association at Leeds in 1890 he gave an address on recent practical applications of science. When the foundation of the Imperial Institute was decided on in 1887, Abel was appointed organising secretary, remaining its honorary secretary and director from its opening in 1893 till it was handed over to the board of trade in 1901. He was made C.B. 1877, was knighted 1883, became K.C.B. 1891, a baronet 1893, G.C.V.O., 1901; he received the hon. D.C.L. (Oxford) 1883, and D.Sc. (Cambridge) 1888. In addition to the publications already cited, he contributed sixty-five papers to scientific publications and some important articles to the 9th edition of the 'Encyclopædia Britannica.'
Abel, who combined with his scientific capacity high accomplishments as a musician, died at his residence, 2 Whitehall Court, S.W., on 6 Sept. 1902, and was buried at Nunhead cemetery. He married (1) Sarah Selina (1854–1888), daughter of James Blanch of Bristol; (2) in 1889, Giulietta de la Feuillade (d. 1892). He had no children. His portrait, by Frank Bramley, was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1901.
[War Office List; Burke's Baronetage; Nature, lxvi. 492; The Times, 8 Sept. 1902; Journal, Iron and Steel Institute, lxii. 1902; Journal, Soc. of Arts, Sept. 1902; Soc. Chem. Industry, xxi. 1902; Trans. Chem. Soc. 1905, i. 565; Oscar Guttmann's Manufacture of Explosives, 1895, i. 346–8.]
ABRAHAM, CHARLES JOHN (1814–1903), first bishop of Wellington, New Zealand, born on 17 June 1814 at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, was second son of Captain Thomas Abraham of the 16th regiment, who was on the staff there. His mother was Louisa Susannah, daughter of Edward Carter of Portsmouth. After attending Dr. Arnold's school at Laleham, he went in 1826 to Eton as an oppidan, but to save expenses soon went into college, then half empty. He reached the sixth form, and played in the school cricket eleven. In 1833 Abraham went as a scholar to King's College, Cambridge. King's at that time had the privilege of giving its own degrees without university examination in a tripos. Abraham was a good and accurate scholar, with a special memory for Horace and Homer, which he retained through life. He graduated B.A. in 1837, and succeeded to a fellowship at King's, which he held until 1850. He proceeded M.A. in 1840 and D.D. in 1859, and took the ad eundem degree of M.A. at Oxford on 14 June 1849.
After being ordained deacon in 1837 and priest in 1838 and entering on parochial work as curate of Headley Down, Hampshire, he returned to Eton as a master. For thirteen years he threw himself heart and soul into Eton life. There were few masters and the classes were large and unwieldy; Abraham had more than ninety boys in his division. With George Augustus Selwyn [q. v.], who was private tutor to the earl of Powis's sons at Eton and curate of Windsor, Abraham now began the friendship which determined his career. When in 1841 Selwyn became bishop of New Zealand, Abraham was anxious to follow him, but for the present the calls of
