Sir William Crookes, F.R.S. — 'ubi Crookes ibi lux'

Ward's full-length caricature exaggerates Crookes's characteristic silhouette — outsized white walrus moustache, neat goatee, pince-nez — while rendering his slight frame in a well-cut black frock coat. The subject cradles two of his own inventions: a Crookes tube (the evacuated glass bulb that advanced cathode-ray research) and a radiometer, objects that double as professional calling-cards. The Latin caption, 'ubi Crookes ibi lux' — 'where Crookes is, there is light' — salutes both his physics and his psychical-research enthusiasms. The plate belongs to Vanity Fair's gentlemanly-scientist sub-genre, treating Crookes with the affectionate mockery reserved for establishment worthies.