THOMSON 719 blank verse, written by him at the age of 14, was first published in a life of the poet by Allan Cunningham in 1841. He published in March, 1726, his blank verse poem of " Win- ter," for the copyright of which he received three guineas, and three editions were called for in a year. In 1727 appeared " Summer," followed by " Britannia" and a "Poem sacred to the Memory of Sir Isaac Newton ;" in 1728, "Spring;" and in 1730, "The Seasons," com- pleted by the addition of "Autumn," in a 4to volume, of which 454 copies were subscribed for at a guinea each. In 1729 he produced " Sophonisba," a tragedy, acted with moderate success at Drury Lane. In l731-'2 he travelled on the continent as tutor of the son of Sir Charles Talbot, afterward lord chancellor, and on his return to England commenced an elab- orate poem on "Liberty" (5 parts, 1735-'6). It was abridged by Lord Lyttelton in collect- ing the author's works for publication, and in that condition it still appears. He had mean- while been placed in easy circumstances by the appointment of secretary of briefs in the court of chancery, bestowed upon him by Lord Talbot. After the death of the chancellor in 1737 he lost the place, but received from the prince of Wales a pension of 100 a year. He now produced successively his dramas "Aga- memnon " (1738), which narrowly escaped being damned on the first night, and "Edward and Eleanora," the representation of which was prohibited under the operation of the act for licensing dramatic performances ; the masque of "Alfred," written in conjunction with Mal- let, which contains the celebrated song and chorus, " Rule Britannia," set to music by Dr. Arne ; and " Tancred and Sigismunda," per- formed with success at Drury Lane in 1745. About this time he was appointed surveyor general of the Leeward islands, the duties of which were discharged by a deputy, while the clear emoluments amounted to 300 a year ; and the latter part of his life was passed in an elegant retreat at Kew Lane. In 1748 appeared " The Castle of Indolence," on which he had labored for many years. His posthumous play of "Coriolanus" was performed at Covent Garden. Thomson was a man of gross appear- ance and exceedingly indolent disposition. The latest edition of his complete works is in two volumes (London, 1870). THOMSON. I. James, a British civil engineer, born in Belfast about 1816. He was educated in Belfast and Glasgow, where his father was professor of mathematics. He took the mas- ter's degree in 1840, studied civil engineering and mechanics, became a pupil in the Horseley iron works, near Tipton, South Staffordshire, entered the service of William Fairbairn, and afterward settled in Belfast as a civil engineer. In 1857 he was appointed professor of civil engineering in Queen's college, Belfast, and in 1872 professor of engineering and mechanics in the university of Glasgow. Prof. Thomson has been prominently employed as a consult- 786 VOL. xv. 46 ing engineer for water supply, irrigation, and other agricultural engineering. He invented the vortex turbine, and the jet pump and in- termittent reservoir, for draining swamp lands. His investigations of the lowering by pressure of the freezing temperature of water suggested the perfect solution of the problem of glaciers. About 40 papers by him on physics, mathema- tics, and mechanics have been published in the " Cambridge and Dublin Mathematical Jour- nal," the " Edinburgh Philosophical Journal," the "Transactions" of the royal societies of London and Edinburgh, the "Proceedings" of the British association, and the "Transactions" of the institution of engineers of Scotland. II. Sir William, a British mathematician, brother of the preceding, born in Belfast in June, 1824. He studied in Glasgow university, and after- ward at Cambridge, where he graduated in 1845, and became a fellow of St. Peter's. In 1846 he was made professor of natural philo- sophy in Glasgow university, which post he still holds (1876). For seven years he was editor of the " Cambridge and Dublin Mathe- matical Journal," among his contributions to which was one on " Distribution of Electricity on Spherical Conductors" (1848). In 1856 he delivered the Bakerian lecture on "Electro- dynamic Properties of Metals." He has con- structed several beautiful instruments for the study of electrical phenomena, and is at pres- ent engaged in perfecting a tide-calculating machine. He invented the mirror galvano- meter and syphon recorder, for ocean tele- graphy, which, owing to their extreme deli- cacy, can be worked by. very low battery pow- er. He has made important contributions to the science of magnetism, and investigated the laws of heat. (See HEAT.) He was knighted in 1866. Among his published papers are " Thermal Effects of Fluids in Motion," " The Mathematical Theory of Elasticity," and "The Rigidity of the Earth." A volume of his pa- pers on electrostatics and magnetism appeared in 1872. THOMSON, Thomas, a British chemist, born at Crieff, Perthshire, April 12, 1773, died at Kil- mun, Argyleshire, July 2, 1852. He was edu- cated at the university of St. Andrews and at Edinburgh, and in 1796 became a contributor to the "Encyclopaedia Britannica," his chemi- cal articles in which formed the basis of his "System of Chemistry" (4 vols. 8vo, 1802). He was one of the first to suggest the use of chemical symbols, and among the first to eluci- date the atomic theory of Dalton. In 1810 he published the "Elements of Chemistry" (8vo); in 1812, the " History of the Royal Society of London " (4to) ; and in 1813, " Travels in Swe- den," which country he had visited in the pre- vious year. In 1813 he went to London and commenced the " Annals of Philosophy," which he edited till 1822. In 1817 he was chosen lecturer at the university of Glasgow, and in 1818 was made professor of chemistry. His other works are : " An Attempt to Establish
