Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 19.djvu/63

Fisher of nearly four thousand observations on astronomical refraction in an arctic climate.

Fisher was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1825, and of the Astronomical Society in 1827, acted several times as vice-president of the latter body, and was a member of the council from 1835 until 1863. Appointed in 1828 chaplain to H.M. ships Spartiate and Asia he carried on magnetic observations in various parts of the Mediterranean, and on 24 Jan. 1833 laid a paper on the subject before the Royal Society, entitled 'Magnetical Experiments made principally in the South part of Europe and in Asia Minor during the years 1827 to 1832' (ib. cxxiii. 237; Proc. R. Soc. iii. 163). His theory of 'The Nature and Origin of the Aurora Borealis' was communicated to the Royal Society on 19 June 1834 (ib. p. 295), and to the British Association at Cambridge in 1845 (Report, pt. ii. p. 22). Founded on a close study of the phenomenon in arctic regions, it included the ideas, since confirmed, of its being the polar equivalent of lightning, and of its origin in a zone surrounding at some distance each pole. Auroras were thus regarded as a means of restoring electrical equilibrium between the upper and lower strata of the atmosphere, disturbed by the development of positive electricity through rapid congelation.

Fisher accepted in 1834 the post of headmaster of Greenwich Hospital School, and greatly improved the efficiency of the institution. He erected an astronomical observatory in connection with it, which he superintended during thirteen years, observing there the solar eclipse of 18 July 1860 (Monthly Notices, xxi. 19). At the request of Lord Herbert in 1845, he wrote text-books of algebra and geometry for use in the school, of which he became principal in 1860. His retirement followed in 1863, and after ten years of well-earned repose he died without suffering on 14 May 1873.

Besides the papers already mentioned Fisher presented to the Royal Society accounts of magnetic experiments made in the West Indies and North America by Mr. James Napier (Proc. R. Soc. iii. 253), and on the west coast of Africa by Commander Edward Belcher (Phil. Trans. cxxii. 493), and reduced those made on the coasts of Brazil and North America from 1834 to 1837 by Sir Everard Home (ib. cxxviii. 343). He contributed to the 'Quarterly Journal of Science' essays 'On the Figure of the Earth, as deduced from the Measurements of Arcs of the Meridian, and Observations on Pendulums' (vii. 299, 1819); 'On the Variation of the Compass, observed in the late Voyage of Discovery to the North Pole' (ix. 81); and 'On Refractions observed in High Latitudes' (xxi. 348, 1826).  FISHER, JAMES (1697–1775), one of the founders of the Scottish secession church, was born on 23 Jan. 1697 at Barr in Ayrshire, where his father, Thomas, was minister, studied at Glasgow University, and was ordained minister of Kinclaven, Perthshire, in 1725. In 1727 he married the daughter of the Rev. [q. v.] of Portmoak, Kinross-shire, with whom he was afterwards associated as a founder of the secession body. Fisher concurred with Erskine and other likeminded ministers in their views both as to patronage and doctrine, and in opposition to the majority of the general assembly, by whom their representations were wholly disregarded. In 1732 Erskine preached a sermon at the opening of the synod of Perth, in which he boldly denounced the policy of the church as unfaithful to its Lord and Master. For this he was rebuked by the general assembly; but against the sentence he protested, and was joined by three ministers, of whom Fisher was one. The protest was declared to be insulting, and the ministers who signed it were thrust out of the church, and ultimately formed the associate presbytery. The people of Kinclaven adhered almost without exception to their minister, and the congregation increased by accessions from neighbouring parishes. Fisher was subsequently translated to Glasgow (8 Oct. 1741), but was deposed by the associate anti-burgher synod 4 Aug. 1748. In 1749 the associate burgher synod gave him the office of professor of divinity. His name is associated with a catechism designed to explain the 'Shorter Catechism of the Westminster Assembly.' What is known as Fisher's 'Catechism' (2 parts, Glasgow, 1753, 1760) was in reality the result of contributions by many ministers of the body, which were made use of by three of the leading men, Ebenezer and Ralph Erskine and Fisher. Fisher survived the other two; and as the duty of giving a final form to the work, as well as executing lis own share, devolved on him, it is usually spoken of as his. It is a work of great care, learning, and ability; it has passed through many editions; it was long the manual for catechetical instruction in the secession church; and it was a favourite with evangelical men outside the secession like Dr. Colquhoun of Leith and [q. v.] Fisher was the author of various other works, chiefly bearing on matters of controversy at the time, and illustrative of 