132 OBITUARY: THOMAS PORTER BLUNT Obituary. THOMAS PORTER BLUNT, M.A., F.I.C. THE Society of Public Analysts has lost one of its oldest members by the death of Thomas Porter Blunt, who died quite suddenly in his sleep on February the 8th, in his 87th year. He was born in Shrewsbury and educated at Friar’s School, Bangor, and Magdalen College, Oxford, where he studied chemistry under the late Professor Harcourt, taking first class honours in Natural Science in 1864. From Oxford he returned to his native town, joining his father in his business as pharmacist. With the passing of the Food and Drugs Act he was appointed Public Analyst for Shropshire, which post he retained for over fifty years, and on his retirement, three years ago, his services were retained as Consulting Analyst to the County.He also acted as Official Agricultural Analyst for Shropshire, and Public Analyst for the Counties of Montgomery and Merioneth, and for the Borough of Wenlock. Up to within two years of his death he was actively engaged in his laboratory, but a serious accident when on holiday in North Wales prevented him carrying on with the work he loved so well, and I know that at the last “he was very tired after months of inactivity and discomfort.” Apart from his Public Analyst’s work, he was also Gas Examiner to the town of Shrewsbury until 1917, and he was on the Board of Examiners to the Pharmaceutical Society from 1886 to 1893. Blunt joined the Society of Public Analysts in the year the Society was founded, 1874, and served on the Council in 1891-1892. He published the following papers in THE ANALYST :-“ Permanganate Process for Water ” (4, 94) ; “Effect of Light on some Reagents and Chemical Compounds” (5, 79) ; “ Williams’ Nitrogen Process” (6, 202) ; ‘(Use of Platinic Chloride as an Indicator in Deter- mination of Free Iodine ” (7, 135) ; “ Ferrocyanide Test for Zinc” (9, 232) ; “ Deter- mining the Fixed Acids in Butter and Margarine ” (13, 110) ; ‘( Notes on Tabarie’s Process for the Indirect Determination of Alcohol” (16, 221) ; ‘( Note on Ginger” (21, 309) ; “ Note on the Separation of Arsenic” (48, 596) ; “The Analysis of Com- mercial Lime ” (51, 625).All Public Analysts have reason to be grateful for his elegant simplification of Tabarie’s formula, for his neat method for determining nitrates in water, and for his very convincing article on the detection of ‘( exhausted ” ginger.In 1865 he contributed an original paper on phosphide of magnesium to the Transactions of the Chemical Society, and other chemical contributions will be found in the Chemical News and the Pharmaceutical Journal during years 1880 to 1893. His outstanding contribution to science was his work, in association with Sir Arthur Downes, on the action of light upon bacteria. As early as 1877 he proved definitely the bactericidal effect of sunlight, and this pioneer work, which was published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, London (1877, XXVI, 488), laid the foundations for modern work on actinotherapy; and it is only with theOBITUARY: JAMES WEST KNIGHTS 133 revived interest in “light ” treatment that Blunt’s work has received due recogni- tion.I t was my good fortune to join Blunt in his analytical work in 1912; this was the beginning of an association which was marked by Blunt’s unfailing willingness to share his knowledge and experience with a man many years his junior, and by a staunch friendship lasting until his death. He had many interests apart from his work; a keen and able field botanist, he was a vice-president of the Caradoc and Severn Valley Field Club, acted as honorary curator of the botanical section of the Shrewsbury Museum, and as a judge of wild flowers at the Shrewsbury Show for half a century. An enthusiastic educationist , he served on the board of management for several schools. A love of the Classics, formed in his Oxford days, was retained throughout his life, and his ability as a Latin and Greek scholar was of no mean order.In his younger days he was a rowing man, being in his College crew, and he also served as a volunteer. Blunt combined exceptional charm of manner with a generous and kindly disposition; a scholar and a gentleman, he did much to establish the traditions and dignity of his profession, and his example is one which a younger generation of Public Analysts may well strive to emulate. HAROLD LOWE. JAMES WEST KNIGHTS. WE have recently had to mourn the loss of several of the oldest members of our Society, and the death of James West Knights, at the age of 75, has now added another to the list. James West Knights was the second son of Mr. James Knights, of St.Ives, Hunts. He was educated at St. Ives Grammar School and at Barton School, Wisbech. ,After leaving school he served an apprenticeship with a local druggist, and then came to London to undergo a course of training in analytical chemistry. His professional career began by his becoming chief analyst to a firm of chemical manufacturers in Flint, and shortly afterwards, at the early age of 25, he was appointed Public Analyst for the Borough and County of Cambridge, the Isle of Ely, the County of Hunts., and the Boroughs of Wisbech and King’s Lynn. These appointments he held until last year, when he retired, after 50 years’ service. For inany years he also acted as gas examiner to the Cambridge Corporation. West Knights joined our Society in 1878, and he contributed several papers to the early volumes of THE ANALYST, including a method for the estimation of nitrates in water (1882, 6, 56) and a description of the familiar form of extraction apparatus which bears his name (1886, 8, 65). For many years past he took no part in the work of the Society, and was therefore personally known to only a few of our members. EDITOR.