TAYLOR, William Bower, physicist, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 23 May, 1821. He was graduated at the University of Pennsylvania in 1840, and after studying law was admitted to the Philadelphia bar in 1844. Subsequently he studied civil engineering, but he has always been more attracted to literary pursuits or scientific investigations. In 1854 he was made an examiner in the United States patent-office in Washington, where he remained until 1877. He was appointed editor of the publications of the Smithsonian institution in 1878, which place he has since held. Mr. Taylor is a member of the Philosophical societies of Philadelphia and Washington, and, in addition to reviews and magazine articles, has published, through the medium of the Smithsonian reports, memoirs on "Thoughts on the Nature and Origin of Force" (1870) ; " Oil the Refraction of Sound" (1875) ; " Kinetic Theories of Gravitation" (1876); "Recent Researches in Sound " (1876) ; "History of the Electro-Magnetic Telegraph" (1878) ; " The Scientific Work of Joseph Henry" (1878), "Physics and Occult Qualities" (1882); and " On the Crumpling of the Earth's Crust" (1882); also a discussion with the Reverend J. Newton Brown "On the Obligation of the Sabbath" (Philadelphia, 1853).