Page:Lectures on Ten British Physicists of the Nineteenth Century.djvu/43

 late to benefit Rankine. A substitute had to be appointed to take charge of his classwork; and at the close of the year he died suddenly; not of any special disease, but as the result of overwork. His death occurred on the 24th of December, 1872, in the 53d year of his age.

When I first came to this country and attended a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, I was eagerly sought out by a professor of the Stevens Institute who was a great admirer of Rankine and desired to learn about his personality. I had to say that I had never met Rankine but that he could learn something of the man from the Collection of his Songs and Fables. The fables are founded on the curious signs which distinguish inns in England, such as the "Swan with two necks," the "Cat and Fiddle," etc.; they are illustrated by a lady who was a cousin of Maxwell and who also depicted scenes in Maxwell's country life. From my conversation with this professor I learned how widely the engineering manuals of Rankine were used in the United States, that his thermodynamic researches were well known, and that his name was everywhere held in high honor.