Description
Autograph Letter Signed, to B.Lascelles, awaiting “your further results”, which can then be discussed after Odling’s lecture on Monday. 2 pp. 7 x 4½ inches, in good condition. Croydon, undated. William Odling (1829–1921), chemist. Among his publications were A Course of Practical Chemistry (1854), A Manual of Chemistry, Descriptive and Theoretical (1861), and Outlines of Chemistry (1870). As the first medical officer of health for Lambeth he gained direct experience of cholera and other water-borne diseases. For drinking purposes, he concluded that well water, with possibilities of immediate pollution, was less desirable than river water, with its natural processes for purification. In chemistry, Odling’s lectures and writings played a considerable part in shaping fundamental chemical theory, and in several respects laid the foundations for the theory of valency, as defined by Edward Frankland and August Kekulé.