Clark Thomas

Clark, Thomas, was born at Ayr in 1801, and at the age of fifteen entered the counting-house of Macintosh and Co., the makers of waterproof goods. He had, however, a taste for chemistry, and after working for some years at Tennant's chemical factory, was appointed lecturer at the Glasgow Mechanics' Institute. His discovery of pyrophosphate of soda was an event of considerable scientific importance. In 1831 he took the degree of M.D., and for some time devoted himself to pharmacy. He published in the Westminster Review a careful inquiry into our system of weights and measures, and in 1833 was made professor of chemistry in the Marischal College, Aberdeen. Various subjects engaged his attention, but the most important of his labours resulted in the process for softening hard water, which is still in use. His health did not permit him to lecture after 1844, and he devoted his later years to the revision of the text of the Greek Testament, but his notes were never published. He died in 1867.