TKESENT PROBLEI^rS OF INORGANIC CHEMISTRY." 



Bv Sir William Ramsay. K. C. B.. F. U. S. 



To discuss tlio '' present problems of iiioi-<;!\iiic cheinistry "" is by no 

 jiioans' an easy task. The expression might be taken to mean an 

 account of what is being actually done at present by ihose engaged 

 in inorganic research; or it might be taken to relate to what needs 

 doing — to the direction in which research is required. To summarize 

 what is being done in an intelligible manner in the time at my dis- 

 posal would be an almost impossible task ; hence I will choose the lat- 

 ter interpretation of the title of my address. Now, a considerable 

 experience in attempting to unveil the secrets of nature has convinced 

 me that a deliberate eflort to discover some new law or fact seldom 

 succeeds. The investigator generally begins unmethodically, by ran- 

 dom and chance experiments; or i)erhaps he is guided by some iniUca- 

 tion which has struck his attention (hiring scmie previous research; 

 and he is often the plaything of circumstances in his choice. Expe- 

 rience leads him to choose problems which most readily achiiit of solu- 

 tion, or which appear likely to lead to the most interesting residts. 

 If 1 uiay be excused the egotism of referring to my own work, I may 

 illustrate what I mean by relating the following curious coincideuce: 

 After Lord Kayleigh had announced his discovery that "■ atmosphei-i(; 

 nitrogen " was denser than '' chemical nitrogen," I referred to Caven- 

 tlish's celel)rated pa])er on the combination of the nitrogen and the 

 oxvgen of the air by means of electric sparks. Fortified by what I 

 read, and by the knowledge gained during the pi'rfornuuice of lecture 

 experiments that red-hot magnesium is a good and fairly rapid 

 absorbent of nitrogen, it was not long before a considerable cpiantity 

 of nearly pure argon had been separated from atmospheric nitrogen. 

 Now it happened that I possess two copiers of Cavendish's works; and 

 some months afterwards I consulted the other coi)y and found ])en- 

 ciled on the margin the words '' look into this." I remembered the 

 circumstance which led to the annotation. About ten years before, 



An address at the International Congress of Arts and Science. St. Louis, 

 SeiJtember, 1904. Here printed by permission of the author. 



207 



