ESSAY-REVIEWS 



SIR W. RAMSAY, by Frederick A. Mason, B.A., Ph.D. : on Sir 

 William Ramsay, K.C.B., F.R.S. Memorials of his life and work, by 

 Sir William A. Tilden, F.R.S. [Pp. xvi + 311, with 5 illustrations 

 and a frontispiece.] (London: Macmillan & Co., 1918. Priceioj-.net.) 



Some ONE — Lavoisier, perhaps— once remarked that he felt it his duty to be a 

 good citizen first and a scientist afterwards, and this standpoint appears also to 

 have been that adopted by Sir William Ramsay, for right up to the very end 

 of his life he concerned himself actively with various movements connected with 

 national welfare, particularly with regard to university education and research. 



The story of his life is, of course, especially interesting to chemists, but Sir 

 W. Tilden has succeeded admirably in producing a work which can be read and 

 appreciated by all. Ramsay's bent towards science was undoubtedly inherited, 

 in part, at all events, for he himself wrote in a short autobiography, which he 

 contributed as an introduction to a German translation of one of his books 

 ( Vergangenes unci Kiitiftiges aus der Chemie), " Whatever chemical talent I 

 possess is an inheritance from my ancestors on both sides." 



His grandfather, William Ramsay, was a chemical manufacturer— junior 

 partner in the firm of Arthur & Turnbull, makers, amongst other things, of the 

 well-known " TurnbulFs Blue " ; he was an excellent practical chemist, pub- 

 lished some original papers on chemistry, and founded the Chemical Society of 

 Glasgow in 1800. He married Elizabeth Crombie in 1809, there being four 

 children of the marriage — Eliza, William (father of Sir William), Andrew Crombie 

 (who later became Sir Andrew Ramsay, the distinguished geologist), and John. 



The eldest son, William, was a man of scientific tastes and culture, who 

 devoted himself to engineering until an accident to one of his eyes compelled him 

 to change his occupation. Somewhat late in life, at the age of forty, he married 

 Katherine Buchanan, and on October 2nd, 1852, a son was born to them at 

 Queen's Crescent, Glasgow. 



The parents carefully refrained from spoiling their child, but "he was a great 

 deal with them, heard them talk, and insensibly copied them, so that, as a little 

 boy, he used rather grown-up words and ways of speaking. He played quietly 

 with his toys, and carried on his child's life alongside of theirs, thinking his own 

 thoughts and only coming out of his dreams when actually spoken to." He does 

 not appear to have troubled himself much with the usual boys' games, but pre- 

 ferred amusements having a practical interest, such as rigging out toy boats, and 

 so on, always on some plan of his own. He was fond of reading and music — 

 pursuits that preserved their fascination for him right through life. His re- 

 markable powers as a linguist were early developed, and M. M. Pattison Muir, in 

 his reminiscences, recalls Ramsay's method of combining interest and duty during 

 the long sermon in a Glasgow church by reading a French or German Bible, and 

 so developing his knowledge of those languages ! 



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